Focus: Terrestrial Connectivity
February 17, 2021
Rakuten Mobile and Ligado Networks have reached an MoU for commercial trials for 5G mobile private networks based on the Rakuten Communications Platform (RCP). Under the MoU announced Feb. 12, the companies will define a strategy that leverages Rakuten’s ecosystem to advance a jointly developed 5G mobile private network solution and accelerate overall L-band commercial…
February 8, 2021
How satellite will play a role in the 5G communications environment around the globe is a key challenge for the satellite industry as it looks to combine with terrestrial players more effectively than it has in the past. In this interview, Via Satellite talks to Chris Pearson, the president of 5G Americas, an industry organization…
February 1, 2021
Orbitare has reached a deal with Spire Global to deploy its personal satellite communication network, Spaceloop, on Spire’s nanosatellite constellation. Orbitare will send two in-orbit demonstrations of Spaceloop to orbit this year onboard Spire satellites, the company announced Monday. This partnership is an example of Spire’s Space-as-a-Service (SaaS) subscription offering. Orbitare is working to build…
January 22, 2021
Alphabet, parent company of Google, is shutting down Loon, its subsidiary dedicated to providing broadband from balloons in the stratosphere. Loon CEO Alastair Westgarth announced the news in a Medium blog post on Jan. 22. “Loon has been chasing the hardest problem of all in connectivity — the last billion users: The communities in areas…