Rakuten Mobile and University of Tokyo Explore LEO and IoT Possibilities
Rakuten Mobile is teaming up with the University of Tokyo Graduate School of Engineering to look at the possibilities of using Low-Earth Orbit (LEO) satellites to help boost IoT coverage in Japan. The two organizations announced the collaboration on Nov. 29.
As part of the R&D for this project, the organizations will leverage their respective expertise in satellite communications technology and narrowband IoT (NB-IoT) to build an IoT network using LEO satellite communications and establish new use cases for IoT services using NB-IoT and LTE devices. They plan to will use satellite communications to expand geographical coverage to 100% and enable long-distance communications with existing NB-IoT and IoT devices with the aim of achieving IoT ultra coverage.
They believe it will become possible to provide low-cost IoT services for various industries in locations that would typically be out of network coverage, such as mountainous areas, remote islands or on the sea, with an NB-IoT and LTE network using satellites.
R&D for this project is planned until the end of March 2025. Rakuten Mobile has the aim to enhance its satellite communications network to provide a more convenient service to its customers and contribute to the development of telecommunications technologies in Japan.