SoftBank stated that it’s going to provide eight service plans for companies and authorities companies
Japanese telecom operator SoftBank has struck a cope with Eutelsat Group to supply satellite tv for pc connectivity providers. The service stated that it plans to launch these providers this December, leveraging Eutelsat OneWeb’s low Earth orbit (LEO) satellite tv for pc community.
SoftBank expects to supply eight totally different service plans with “excessive communication speeds and low latency,” below the Eutelsat OneWeb title, to companies, authorities companies and native governments in Japan.
SoftBank stated that the plans will embrace choices with each bandwidth and pace ensures, together with best-effort providers that may function downlink speeds as much as 195 Mbps and uplink speeds of as much as 32 Mbps.
SoftBank famous in a weblog put up that as of early July, it had acquired a blanket license for working infrastructure together with Very Small Aperture Terminal (VSAT) earth stations and cellular earth stations, which it stated was a primary for a Japan-based telecom operator. Eutelsat OneWeb additionally was granted a gateway station license from Japan’s Ministry of Inner Affairs and Communications’ (MIC) in early August, setting the stage for operations.
“Eutelsat OneWeb will assist SoftBank promote digital transformation for companies and native governments in Japan. The service will herald a brand new period in safe, ubiquitous connectivity providers,” stated Masakatsu Kawahara, head of the Communication Service Division at SoftBank’s Enterprise Unit, in a press release on the launch.
Eutelsat Group, which took over OneWeb in 2023, intends to be a LEO rival to Starlink, with the bonus of GEO satellite tv for pc capabilities. When the corporate introduced its most up-to-date ends in early August, Eva Berneke, CEO of Eutelsat Communications, stated that regardless of the operational roll-out of OneWeb LEO providers being “tougher than anticipated,” the corporate was “now on monitor when it comes to goal protection” and anticipated to see continued development from OneWeb within the coming yr.
For SoftBank’s half, the transfer into NTN providers is in step with its complete “Ubiquitous Community” technique to construct a community with non-terrestrial attain that may present connectivity “wherever on the planet.” Softbank has steadily constructed NTN property over the previous few years, notably within the HAPS house.
HAPS stands for Excessive-Altitude Platform Station, though they’re additionally typically known as Excessive-Altitude Pseudo Satellites. HAPS carry telecom payloads and may present stratosphere-based connectivity to gadgets on the bottom. To this point, HAPS have been used largely for momentary protection, resembling throughout catastrophe restoration, however firms working within the house hope to make use of them for extra enduring and dependable protection in unconnected areas.
Within the final a number of years, SoftBank has began a three way partnership generally known as HAPSMobile, acquired Venture Loon mental property when dad or mum firm Alphabet wound down that stratospheric communications initiative, and has participated in numerous exams to show out HAPS-based capabilities, together with a check of 5G HAPS connectivity in Rwanda in late 2023. The cellular community operator additionally acquired Cubic Telecom in late 2023, with a watch to connecting automobiles through NTN expertise.