Page 73 - SAMENA Trends - July-September 2024

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SATELLITE NEWS

Intelsat Advances 3GPP Approval for Unified Satellite and Terrestrial Network

The 3GPP mobile standards organization
has approved an Intelsat-led Ku-band
project for standardization. Intelsat led
the effort with support from 35 companies
and 3GPP community members, including
other satellite operators, terrestrial
vendors, and mobile network operators
(MNOs). The approval of the “Ku-band
Work Package” means that Intelsat and
other satellite providers will now begin
the process leading to full certification to
deploy Ku-band-based 5G New Radio (NR)
services, targeted to be completed at the
end of 2025. Intelsat calls this a crucial
step towards the Intelsat Unified Network and industrial IoT devices to roam across and conduct all applicable coexistence
vision. The satellite operator said this satellite constellations and terrestrial configurations, facilitating the integration
project will broaden the reach of Ku-band cellular networks. Intelsat CTO Bruno of satellite network components into 5G NR
satellite services with the mobile industry’s Fromont commented: “We will continue to systems and ensuring seamless mobility
economies of scale to allow mass-market spearhead the significant effort required to between terrestrial and non-terrestrial
devices like smartphones, mobile VSATs, specify and standardize Ku-band use cases networks.”

Airtel Nigeria Sets Up Eutelsat OneWeb Satellite Dish

Airtel Nigeria says it has successfully set deal between Airtel Africa and OneWeb "Airtel Satellite" service in March 2024.
up a satellite dish in Lagos for Eutelsat that was signed in November 2022 before While the official announcement doesn’t
OneWeb’s LEO satellite broadband service, the company officially became Eutelsat mention OneWeb, it described Airtel
which it says will be used to bring high- OneWeb in September last year. According Satellite as “a very high-speed, low-latency
speed internet to remote areas. In a post to the Ecofin news agency, Eutelsat OneWeb and highly resilient connectivity service”. A
on LinkedIn on Friday, Airtel Business began deployment of services in each of separate Ecofin report says it is part of Airtel
Nigeria said it has also trained its local Airtel Africa’s 14 markets after following Africa’s agreement with Eutelsat OneWeb.
team to manage the technology, “ensuring tests in South Africa in September 2023. Adding LEO satellite to its connectivity
sustainable growth and innovation for the The first to publicly launch services was portfolio could give Airtel Nigeria a boost in
future.” The deployment is part of a broader Airtel Madagascar, which announced its its subscriber base by extending its reach
to rural populations. According to the latest
data from the Nigerian Communications
Commission (NCC), Airtel Nigeria currently
ranks second in the mobile internet market
with 48.8 million subscribers as of March
31, for a market share of 28.5%. Rival MTN
Nigeria leads the market with 69.3 million
mobile internet users, or 42.3% market
share. That said, its overall mobile market
share is 37.5%, while Airtel Nigeria ranks
second at 28.9%. Globacom is technically
third but almost tied with Airtel Nigeria
at 28.4% mobile market share. The NCC
also says that 61% of the country's rural
population remains unconnected.

73 JULY-SEPTEMBER 2024