August2023

Non-Terrestrial

5GNetworksand

SatelliteConnectivity

Introduction

Satellitesarerapidlygainingprominenceintheworldofcellularcommunication.However,thefullextentoftheirpotentialto

complementterrestrialnetworksaswellasphoneservicesandbroadbandisstillunclear.Alongsidethis,thecostforsatellite

serviceplanstendstobehigherbecauseoftheneedtopurchaseexpensiveequipmentandterminals.Althoughusesforsatellitesarecurrentlylimited,thisevolvingindustryistakingitsfirststeptowardslong-termgrowth,similarlytotheevolutionofterrestrialnetworks.

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

UsesforSatellites

Satellitesservewiderangeofusesthroughoutindustriesfromtelecommunicationstonavigationandenvironmentalmonitoring.Tobetterunderstandthebreadthofsatelliteapplicationscoveredinthisreport,theGSAhascategoriseditsusesasfollows:

VoiceandDataServices

Thesecanbeprovidedusingsatellitephonesorhand-helddevicesthattransmitsignalsdirectlytoorbitingsatellites.Thesatellites

thenrelaythesignalbacktoEarth,whereitisroutedthroughtheserviceprovider’sgroundstationandtraditionalnetworkstoreachtherecipientofthecall.Satellitevoiceservicesarecommonlyusedinremoteareaswhereterrestrialinfrastructureislimited,aswellasinemergencysituationswhereinfrastructurehasbeendamaged.

IoTandM2M

IoTandM2Mservicesallowdevicestocommunicatewitheach

otherthroughsatellitenetworks.Theseusesatellitetechnologytoconnectremoteormobiledevices,sensorsandmachinestothe

Internet,sothattheycansenddataandreceivecommandsfromacentralisedsystem.Thisenablesorganisationstoremotelymonitorandcontroltheirassetsinrealtime.

IoTandM2Mservicesareusefulinindustrieswhereassetsare

spreadoutinremotelocations.Thesecanalsobeusedfordisastermanagement,environmentalmonitoringandotherapplications

requiringreal-timedatatransmissionfromremotelocations.

RuralandEnterpriseBroadband

Thisprovideshigh-speedInternetaccessusingsatellitetechnology,workingbytransmittingsignalsbetweenagroundstationand

oneormoreorbitingsatellites.Satellitebroadbandisparticularlyusefulinruralareaswhereterrestrialbroadbandinfrastructureislimited,andcanalsobeusedinmobileormaritimesettingswheretraditionalbroadbandisnotfeasible.

Satellitebroadbandhastraditionallyhadhigherlatencyanddatalimitationsthanterrestrialbroadband,butrecenttechnologicaladvancementshaveenabledsatelliteproviderstoofferfaster

speedsandlargerdataallowances,makingitaviablealternative.

Direct-to-Cellphone

Thisisanewtechnologythatconnectsalow-Earthorbit(LEO)

satelliteconstellationtoanunmodifiedmobilephoneusing

existingterrestrialspectrumandequipment.Useshavebegun

withemergencySMSandlow-datatwo-waymessaging,butitcouldspreadtobroadbandservicesoncenewLEOconstellationsarefullydeveloped.Fromauserperspective,thismeansthatsmartphonescanconnectdirectlytosatellitesinpreviouslyimpossiblelocations,ensuringubiquitouscoverageinpreviouslyunderservedregions.

SatelliteMobileBackhaul

Thisserviceworksbytransmittingsignalsfrommobilecelltowerstooneormoreorbitingsatellites,whichthenrelaythesignals

backtoEarth.Thesignalsarethenroutedthroughtheservice

provider’snetworktoconnectthemobilenetworktothecore

network.Satellitemobilebackhaulcanalsobeusedasabackupfortraditionalterrestrialbackhaulinfrastructure,providingareliablealternativeintheeventofanetworkoutageorequipmentfailure.

OtherServices

Therearemanyothertypesofsatelliteservicenotincludedinthisreport,suchassatellitetelevision,navigationsystems,imagery,

weathermonitoringandmore.

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Non-Terrestrial5GNetworksandSatelliteConnectivity|August2023|2

Figure1.Partnershipsworkingonsatellite-basedruralandenterprisebroadbandservices,bystatus

OperatorPartnershipsandUses

BytheendofJuly2023,GSAhadidentified

70publiclyannouncedpartnershipsbetweenoperatorsandsatellitevendorsacross42

countriesandterritories.

Intotal,48operatorsin37countriesand

territorieshaveplannedsatelliteservices,

witheightoperatorsineightcountriesand

territoriescurrentlyevaluating,testingor

triallingthese.Now,eightoperatorsineight

countriesandterritorieshavecommercially

launchedsatelliteservices,morethandoublinginthepastfourmonths.

RuralandEnterprise

Broadband

Thistechnologyisalreadybecomingwidely

adoptedtoprovideruralcoverageandremainsthemostpopularuseforsatellitesbyfar,

forming59%ofallindentifiedpartnerships.

Nevertheless,theprocessoflaunchingitworldwideisstillinitsinfancy.AsofAugust2023,fivepartnershipshaveresultedin

launchedservices,fourarecurrentlyevaluating,testingortriallingand29haveplannedservices(seeFigure1).

Thereare32countriesandterritoriesthat

areeitherplanning,evaluatingandtestingorhavelaunchedsatellitebroadbandservices.Ofthese,theUKandMexicoarethelatesttohavelaunchedservices,joiningJapan,PapuaNewGuineaandtheUnitedArabEmirates.Fourmorearecurrentlyevaluating,testingortriallingthemand26arecurrentlyintheplanningstages(seeFigure2).

.Planned.Launched.Evaluating/testing/trialling

5

4

32

Figure2.Countriesandterritorieswithpartnershipsforsatellite-basedruralandenterprisebroadband,bystatus

Planned

Evaluating/testing/trialling

Launched

PoweredbyBing?AustralianBureauofSta甘s甘cs,GeoNames,Microsoi,Navinfo,OpenStreetMap,TomTom

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Non-Terrestrial5GNetworksandSatelliteConnectivity|August2023|3

2

4

16

Figure3.Partnershipsworkingonsatellite-to-cellphonetechnology,bystatus

Satellite-to-Cellphone

Satellite-to-cellphoneisahottopicinthe

PlannedEvaluating/testing/triallingLaunched

mobiledeviceindustry,largelybecauseitcan

connectunmodifiedsmartphonesinthemost

remoteandruralareas.

Satellitefirmsofferingthiscapabilityuse

terrestrialfrequencyspectrumownedbythe

mobileoperatorratherthandedicatedsatellite

frequencies.Threemajorcompaniesaredriving

partnershipswithoperatorsinthisspace,

includingSpaceX,ASTSpaceMobileandLynk.

AsofAugust2023,fourpartnershipsare

currentlyevaluating,testingortriallingsatellite-

to-cellphonetechnology,withanother16

planningtolaunch(seeFigure3).

Sincethelasteditionofthisreport,Pacific

Figure4.Countriesandterritorieswithsatellite-to-cellphonepartnerships,bystatus

IslandPalaubecamethefirstcountryto

launchasatellite-to-cellphoneservice,with

Evaluating/testing/triallingLaunchedPlanned

PoweredbyBing?AustralianBureauofSta甘s甘cs,GeoNames,Microsoi,Navinfo,OpenStreetMap,TomTom

apartnershipbetweenlocaloperatorPNCC

andLynksuccessfullyprovidingremote

communitiesacrosstheislandswithincreased

connectivity.Shortlyafter,theCookIslands

becamethesecondcountrytodosoasLynk

andVodafoneannouncedtheywererollingout

acommercialservice.

Thereare14countriesandterritorieseither

planning,evaluating,testingorwithlaunched

satellite-to-cellphonepartnerships(seeFigure

4).Ofthese,Ghana,Japan,NewZealandandthe

USarecurrentlyevaluating,testingortrialling

thetechnology,withanother11currently

planningservices.

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Non-Terrestrial5GNetworksandSatelliteConnectivity|August2023|4

1

6

Figure5.CountriesandterritorieswithIoTandM2Mpartnerships,bystatus

IoTandM2M

Theseservicesarealsointheirinfancy,

.Launched.Planned

makinguponly10%ofthesatelliteusesin

allrecognisedpartnerships,withveryfew

partnershipsofferingthemthroughtheir

satellites.

AsofAugust2023,onlyonepartnershiphas

launchedanIoTorM2Msatelliteservice,with

anothersixcurrentlyplanninglaunches(see

Figure5).Nopartnershipisintheevaluating,

testingortriallingstages.

Figure6showsthecountriesandterritories

withIoTandM2Mpartnershipsbystatus.Asof

August2023,sixcountriesandterritoriesare

eitherplanningorhavelaunchedIoTorM2M

satelliteservices.TheUShaslaunchedservices,

andBrazil,Spain,theUK,GermanyandJapan

havepartnershipscurrentlyplanninglaunches.

Figure6.PartnershipsworkingonIoTandM2Mservicesbasedonsatelliteconnectivity,bystatus

LaunchedPlanned

PoweredbyBing?AustralianBureauofSta甘s甘cs,GeoNames,Microsoi,Navinfo,OpenStreetMap,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 India IndonesiaLuxembourg SingaporeSpain

Sweden

4

4

2

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

12

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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.Therateatwhichpartnerships

launchtheirserviceswillalsoincrease,alreadyevidentinthecontinuinggrowthinlaunchedbroadbandsatelliteservicesoverthepastfour

months,withthecurrentmajorityintheplanningphase.Theincreasingneedforbroadband,voiceanddataservicesandsatellite-to-cellphonetechnologywillseemoreandmo