Vodafone, together with Vodacom, has just announced that it will use the Project Kuiper constellation of low Earth orbit (LEO) satellites to extend the reach of your 4G and 5G networks. This will provide greater coverage to many areas that are currently outside of these services.
The LEO satellites or low Earth orbit promise to revolutionize telecommunications for decades to come. Located many fewer kilometers from the earth’s surface than conventional ones, these are ideal for offering connectivity in areas where it is impossible to reach by other means. One of the best known satellite constellations is SpaceX’s Starlink, but it is not the only one.
Another constellation of satellites is Amazon’s Project Kuiper. This is defined as “Amazon’s initiative to provide fast and affordable internet to communities around the world that currently do not have traditional Internet and communications services.” The project will be half launched by July 2026, taking the first steps between 2023 and 2024.
4G and 5G in more areas with minimal investment
Vodafone and Project Kuiper have reached a collaboration agreement to use this satellite network to extend the reach of 4G and 5G services to more customers in Europe and Africa. The press release explains that both Vodafone and Vodacom will use the high-bandwidth, low-latency network to bring the benefits of these networks to areas that are currently impossible or really expensive to reach with fiber.
Broadly speaking, Project Kuiper will connect geographically dispersed mobile antennas to the core telecommunications networks of both companies. With them, both companies will be able to offer 4G and 5G without investing time or money building fiber-based or fixed wireless links to connect to their core networks.
Both companies have confirmed that they will bring broadband services to underserved and disadvantaged communities around the worldin addition to assessing the launch of specific offers for companies.
Margherita Della Valle, CEO of the Vodafone Group, explains that: “Vodafone’s collaboration with Project Kuiper will provide mobile connectivity to a large part of the 40% of the world’s population that is estimated to lack Internet access, supporting communities located in remote areas, their schools and businesses, emergency services and disaster relief. These connections will be complemented by our own work on satellite services connected directly to smartphones.”
For dave limpAmazon’s senior vice president of devices and services, “Amazon is building Project Kuiper to provide fast, affordable broadband to tens of millions of customers in underserved and disadvantaged communities, and with our flexible network we can connect places that have hitherto been difficult to reach.” reach”.