Written by Nick Wood for Telecoms.com
The mobile and satellite sectors have never been in such close alignment, and they are about to get even closer.
The GSMA and the European Space Agency (ESA) on Wednesday announced the signing of a memorandum of intent (MoI) that covers collaboration on new satellite and terrestrial network technologies.
Non-terrestrial networking (NTN) has been incorporated into the 3GPP’s 5G standard since Release 17, and work is already well underway to turn it into a commercial reality. The partnership between the GSMA and the ESA represents a more coordinated effort in that direction. What’s more, when it comes to 6G, non-terrestrial networking is expected to be baked in from the start. Again, cooperation between these two sectors will be invaluable.
The GSMA and ESA’s goal then is to create an ecosystem that can fast-track the development of new complimentary solutions for businesses and consumers. They also aim to accelerate the integration of satellite communications with 5G and, when the time comes, 6G networks.
“By collaborating more closely with the European Space Agency, and its satellite network operator ecosystem, we hope to accelerate the immense potential satellite and terrestrial telecommunications networks can create for consumers and businesses when they are more closely connected. By working together, we can help the communications industry bring innovative solutions to market, which in turn will create tremendous benefits to society by connecting even more people, wherever they are in the world,” said GSMA CTO Alex Sinclair, in a statement.
