Sateliot, the company that will launch the first constellation of low-orbit nanosatellites to provide 5G coverage for IoT, has offered the main mobile manufacturers at the 73rd International Astronautical Congress in Paris (IAC) its 5G NB-IoT technology to solve the current problem of connecting these devices with the satellite.
This solution, which consists of introducing a chip with this Sateliot technology into smartphones, allows you to send and receive short messages (SMS) from these devices in areas where mobile operators do not reach through the connection with the satellite.
Sateliot wants to take this initiative to 3GPP, the body that periodically brings together the main players in the telecommunications sector to define the various mobile communication standards, and to ensure that this standard solution can be used on all smartphones to send SMS via satellite.
This protocol, which has recently been standardized by 3GPP, allows you to send short messages (SMS) over the 5G NB-IoT network and at a reduced price.
Sateliot has taken this initiative after the interest shown by mobile phone companies, with which it shares working groups on 3GPP, to which it proposes a standard solution that benefits all mobile manufacturers and mobile operators.
The company also intends to lead the technological revolution that some companies and operators have opened to offer their customers the possibility of connecting their mobiles with the satellite, although they start with the disadvantage of being proprietary solutions, which put the investment at risk and that do not evolve with everyone's contributions.
Thus, Apple has enabled this service in its new Iphone 14; T-Mobile, the U.S. carrier, has announced an agreement with SpaceX to bring Starlink, the company's satellite internet service, to the carrier’s customers; or Huawei, which has launched in the Chinese market the option of connecting by satellite with its new Mate 50 phone.
Also operators such as Orange and Vodafone are starting to look for satellite solutions to use them with 5G, especially in rural areas or hard to to connect areas.
Sateliot is already working in this field and is doing so so in collaboration with Telefónica, through the development of an innovative connectivity service that 5G NB-IoT technology in which the new Sateliot satellite network will be integrated with Telefónica Tech's current terrestrial NB-IoT networks to offer IoT connectivity wherever the client needs it.
For Marco Guadalupi, co-founder and CTO of Sateliot, "we want to lead a technological revolution in which we have the necessary knowledge to offer a common solution that opens the way to improve the connection of users anywhere in the world via satellite”.
The Release 17 precedent
Sateliot already has experience in creating a standard solution that can be used by all operators. The 3GPP included in the definition of the 5G-IoT standard scenario 4, also known in the sector as 'Sateliot stage', which contemplates low-orbit nanosatellite networks to provide IoT services.
Likewise, the discontinuous coverage use case has been adopted and is currently working on Releases 18 and 19 to increase the performance of the recently approved Release 17 and create new features that will already go towards an all-connected 6G.
The importance of this technology lies in the fact that carriers will be able to understand each other through this standard, while being able to connect with the nanosatellite network in roaming service when they need 5G IoT coverage to offer connectivity and follow, for example, the merchandise of a moving ship, the trajectory of a mountain biker or notify the emergency services in case of an accident.
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