August2023

Non-Terrestrial

5GNetworksand

SatelliteConnectivity

Introduction

Satellitesarerapidlygainingprominenceintheworldofcellularcommunication.However,thefullextentoftheirpotentialtocomplementterrestrialnetworksaswellasphoneservicesandbroadbandisstillunclear.Alongsidethis,thecostforsatelliteserviceplanstendstobehigherbecauseoftheneedtopurchaseexpensiveequipmentandterminals.Althoughusesforsatellitesarecurrentlylimited,thisevolvingindustryistakingitsfirststeptowardslong-termgrowth,similarlytotheevolutionofterrestrialnetworks.

ThisreportdrawsonpublicinformationcollectedbyGSA,focusingonannouncedmobilenetworkoperatorandsatelliteproviderpartnerships;uses;commercialstatus;geographicavailability;andfrequencybandsbeingearmarkedfornon-terrestrialnetwork(NTN)use.Asthetechnologyadvancesandmorepartnershipsareformed,thepotentialforsatellitenetworkstosupplementandenhanceterrestrialnetworkswillbecomeincreasinglyclear.

UsesforSatellites

Satellitesservewiderangeofusesthroughoutindustriesfromtelecommunicationstonavigationandenvironmentalmonitoring.Tobetterunderstandthebreadthofsatelliteapplicationscoveredinthisreport,theGSAhascategoriseditsusesasfollows:

VoiceandDataServices

Thesecanbeprovidedusingsatellitephonesorhand-helddevicesthattransmitsignalsdirectlytoorbitingsatellites.ThesatellitesthenrelaythesignalbacktoEarth,whereitisroutedthroughtheserviceprovider’sgroundstationandtraditionalnetworkstoreachtherecipientofthecall.Satellitevoiceservicesarecommonlyusedinremoteareaswhereterrestrialinfrastructureislimited,aswellasinemergencysituationswhereinfrastructurehasbeendamaged.

IoTandM2M

IoTandM2Mservicesallowdevicestocommunicatewitheachotherthroughsatellitenetworks.Theseusesatellitetechnologytoconnectremoteormobiledevices,sensorsandmachinestotheInternet,sothattheycansenddataandreceivecommandsfroma

centralisedsystem.Thisenablesorganisationstoremotelymonitorandcontroltheirassetsinrealtime.

IoTandM2Mservicesareusefulinindustrieswhereassetsarespreadoutinremotelocations.Thesecanalsobeusedfordisastermanagement,environmentalmonitoringandotherapplicationsrequiringreal-timedatatransmissionfromremotelocations.

RuralandEnterpriseBroadband

Thisprovideshigh-speedInternetaccessusingsatellitetechnology,workingbytransmittingsignalsbetweenagroundstationandoneormoreorbitingsatellites.Satellitebroadbandisparticularlyusefulinruralareaswhereterrestrialbroadbandinfrastructureislimited,andcanalsobeusedinmobileormaritimesettingswheretraditionalbroadbandisnotfeasible.

Satellitebroadbandhastraditionallyhadhigherlatencyanddatalimitationsthanterrestrialbroadband,butrecenttechnologicaladvancementshaveenabledsatelliteproviderstoofferfasterspeedsandlargerdataallowances,makingitaviablealternative.

Direct-to-Cellphone

Thisisanewtechnologythatconnectsalow-Earthorbit(LEO)satelliteconstellationtoanunmodifiedmobilephoneusingexistingterrestrialspectrumandequipment.UseshavebegunwithemergencySMSandlow-datatwo-waymessaging,butitcouldspreadtobroadbandservicesoncenewLEOconstellationsarefullydeveloped.Fromauserperspective,thismeansthatsmartphonescanconnectdirectlytosatellitesinpreviouslyimpossiblelocations,ensuringubiquitouscoverageinpreviouslyunderservedregions.

SatelliteMobileBackhaul

Thisserviceworksbytransmittingsignalsfrommobilecelltowerstooneormoreorbitingsatellites,whichthenrelaythesignalsbacktoEarth.Thesignalsarethenroutedthroughtheserviceprovider’snetworktoconnectthemobilenetworktothecore

network.Satellitemobilebackhaulcanalsobeusedasabackupfortraditionalterrestrialbackhaulinfrastructure,providingareliablealternativeintheeventofanetworkoutageorequipmentfailure.

OtherServices

Therearemanyothertypesofsatelliteservicenotincludedinthisreport,suchassatellitetelevision,navigationsystems,imagery,weathermonitoringandmore.

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Non-Terrestrial5GNetworksandSatelliteConnectivity|August2023|2

4

5

32

Planned

Launched

Figure1.Partnershipsworkingonsatellite-basedruralandenterprisebroadbandservices,bystatus

PlannedLaunchedEvaluating/testing/trialling

OperatorPartnerships

andUses

BytheendofJuly2023,GSAhadidentified

70publiclyannouncedpartnershipsbetween

operatorsandsatellitevendorsacross42

countriesandterritories.

Intotal,48operatorsin37countriesand

territorieshaveplannedsatelliteservices,

witheightoperatorsineightcountriesand

territoriescurrentlyevaluating,testingor

triallingthese.Now,eightoperatorsineight

countriesandterritorieshavecommercially

launchedsatelliteservices,morethandoubling

inthepastfourmonths.

RuralandEnterprise

Broadband

Figure2.Countriesandterritorieswithpartnershipsforsatellite-basedruralandenterprisebroadband,bystatus

Evaluating/testing/trialling

dow?J?pq人:in2?AustralianBureauofStascs/9?oNem?s/Microso/Nevin}o/Od?nS才J??才Med/TomTom

Thistechnologyisalreadybecomingwidely

adoptedtoprovideruralcoverageandremains

themostpopularuseforsatellitesbyfar,

forming59%ofallindentifiedpartnerships.

Nevertheless,theprocessoflaunchingit

worldwideisstillinitsinfancy.AsofAugust

2023,fivepartnershipshaveresultedin

launchedservices,fourarecurrentlyevaluating,

testingortriallingand29haveplannedservices

(seeFigure1).

Thereare32countriesandterritoriesthat

areeitherplanning,evaluatingandtestingor

havelaunchedsatellitebroadbandservices.

Ofthese,theUKandMexicoarethelatestto

havelaunchedservices,joiningJapan,Papua

NewGuineaandtheUnitedArabEmirates.

Fourmorearecurrentlyevaluating,testing

ortriallingthemand26arecurrentlyinthe

planningstages(seeFigure2).

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Satellite-to-Cellphone

Satellite-to-cellphoneisahottopicinthemobiledeviceindustry,largelybecauseitcanconnectunmodifiedsmartphonesinthemostremoteandruralareas.

Satellitefirmsofferingthiscapabilityuseterrestrialfrequencyspectrumownedbythemobileoperatorratherthandedicatedsatellitefrequencies.Threemajorcompaniesaredrivingpartnershipswithoperatorsinthisspace,includingSpaceX,ASTSpaceMobileandLynk.

AsofAugust2023,fourpartnershipsarecurrentlyevaluating,testingortriallingsatellite-to-cellphonetechnology,withanother16planningtolaunch(seeFigure3).

Sincethelasteditionofthisreport,PacificIslandPalaubecamethefirstcountrytolaunchasatellite-to-cellphoneservice,withapartnershipbetweenlocaloperatorPNCCandLynksuccessfullyprovidingremotecommunitiesacrosstheislandswithincreasedconnectivity.Shortlyafter,theCookIslandsbecamethesecondcountrytodosoasLynkandVodafoneannouncedtheywererollingoutacommercialservice.

Thereare14countriesandterritorieseitherplanning,evaluating,testingorwithlaunchedsatellite-to-cellphonepartnerships(seeFigure4).Ofthese,Ghana,Japan,NewZealandandtheUSarecurrentlyevaluating,testingortriallingthetechnology,withanother11currentlyplanningservices.

Figure3.Partnershipsworkingonsatellite-to-cellphonetechnology,bystatus

PlannedEvaluating/testing/triallingLaunched

2

4

16

Figure4.Countriesandterritorieswithsatellite-to-cellphonepartnerships,bystatus

Evaluating/testing/triallingLaunchedPlanned

dow?J?pq人:in2?AustralianBureauofStascs/9?oNem?s/Microso/Nevin}o/Od?nS才J??才Med/TomTom

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IoTandM2M

Theseservicesarealsointheirinfancy,makinguponly10%ofthesatelliteusesinallrecognisedpartnerships,withveryfewpartnershipsofferingthemthroughtheirsatellites.

AsofAugust2023,onlyonepartnershiphaslaunchedanIoTorM2Msatelliteservice,withanothersixcurrentlyplanninglaunches(seeFigure5).Nopartnershipisintheevaluating,testingortriallingstages.

Figure6showsthecountriesandterritorieswithIoTandM2Mpartnershipsbystatus.AsofAugust2023,sixcountriesandterritoriesareeitherplanningorhavelaunchedIoTorM2Msatelliteservices.TheUShaslaunchedservices,andBrazil,Spain,theUK,GermanyandJapanhavepartnershipscurrentlyplanninglaunches.

Figure5.CountriesandterritorieswithIoTandM2Mpartnerships,bystatus

LaunchedPlanned

1

6

Figure6.PartnershipsworkingonIoTandM2Mservicesbasedonsatelliteconnectivity,bystatus

LaunchedPlanned

dow?J?pq人:in2?AustralianBureauofStascs/9?oNem?s/Microso/Nevin}o/Od?nS才J??才Med/TomTom

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SatelliteProviders

Severalsatelliteprovidershavepartneredwithmobileoperators.Figure7showsthenumberofpubliclyannouncedpartnershipsbyprovider.AsofAugust2023,Starlinkbecamethefirstprovidertoholdmorethan10partnerships,leadingwith14;SESandOneWebbothholdnine.ThesearefollowedbyASTSpaceMobilewithseven,LynkwithsixandOmnispaceandEutelsatwithfiveeach.OthervendorssuchasSateliotinSpain,KacificinSingaporeandHellasSatinGreeceallhaveonepartnershipeach.

Figure7.Publiclyannouncedpartnershipsbysatelliteprovider

14

99

77

55

3

3

2

2

1111

Overall,12countriesandterritorieshavesatelliteprovidersofferingbroadband,voiceanddataorsatellite-to-cellphonetechnology.CurrentlytheUnitedStates,withitsverylargespaceindustry,hasthehighestnumberofprovidersat12,followedbytheUKandChinaatfoureach.Israelistheonlyothercountrytohavemorethanonevendor(seeFigure8).

Figure8.Publiclyannouncedsatellitepartnershipsbycountryorterritory

US

China

UK

Israel

Canada

France

IndiaIndonesia

LuxembourgSingapore SpainSweden

12

4

4

2

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

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FrequencyBandUse

Satellitesthatprovidetelecommunicationsservicestypicallyuseseveralfrequencybands.Thespecificfrequencybandsusedvarydependingontheserviceproviderandregion.Ingeneral,L-bandfrequenciesareusedforvoiceanddataservices,withS-bandandKa-bandreservedforbroadbanddataservices.Table1showsthefrequenciesinusebyprovidersasofAugust2023.

Table1.Devicesupportforlow-bandfrequencies

Frequencyband

Numberofsatelliteproviders

L-band(1.5GHzto1.6GHz)

3

S-band(2GHzto4GHz)

2

C-band(3.7GHzto4.2GHz)

2

Ku-band(12GHzto18GHz)

6

Ka-band(27GHzto40GHz)

13

Q-band(36GHzto46GHz)

2

V-band(40GHzto75GHz)

2

E-band(60GHzto90GHz)

1

W-band(75GHzto110GHz)

1

SatelliteRoadMap

Currentlysatellitenetworksdonotuse3GPP-definedtechnology,insteadusingproprietarytechnology.Thedeploymentofthistechnology,aswellasradioaccessnetworks,isnotdueuntillaterin2023and2024.Table2outlinestheproposedroadmapfortheprocess.

Table2.The3GPPradioaccessnetworkroadmap

Releases

Approach

Endofrelease

Initialdeployment

Release15

Introductionofthesubject

June2018

2020

Release16

Assessmentofissues

March2019

2022

Release17

Definitionofmarket-enablingfeatures

March2022

2023and2024

Release18

Definitionoffirstsetof

enhancements

September2023

2025

Release19

Definitionofsecondsetofenhancements

2025

2027

Release20

Contributiontoinitial6G

network

2027

2029

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SmartphoneswithSatelliteConnectivity

Therearealimitednumberofsmartphoneswithsatelliteconnectivityatpresent,withApple,Huawei,Cat/MotorolaandZTEmakingupthelist:

?CatS75

?iPhone14

?iPhone14Plus

?iPhone14Pro

?iPhone14ProMax

?HuaweiMate50

?HuaweiMate50Pro

?HuaweiMate60Pro

?MotorolaDefySatelliteLink

?ZTEAxon50Ultra

TheannouncementofSnapdragonSatellitelookssettoincreasethenumberofsatellite-compatibleAndroiddevices.Itisexpectedtobeintroducedinthesecondhalfof2023.

Conclusion

Thenumberofoperatorandsatelliteproviderpartnershipswillgrowoverthecomingmonthsandyears.Therateatwhichpartnershipslaunchtheirserviceswillalsoincrease,alreadyevidentinthecontinuinggrowthinlaunchedbroadbandsatelliteservicesoverthepastfourmonths,withthecurrentmajorityintheplanningphase.Theincreasingneedforbroadband,voiceanddataservicesandsatellite-to-cellphonetechnologywillseemorean