The integration of satellite capabilities into mobile phones is a catalyst for enabling broader network connectivity for consumers and industrial users.
That is the reason the Mobile Satellite Services Association (MSSA) was launched one year ago with the aim to foster and create an environment where satellite connectivity is an integrated part of available consumer mobile services globally. MSSA is pursing key initiatives that will enable the integration of terrestrial and non-terrestrial networks (NTN) to deliver scalable, sustainable, and affordable connectivity to any device, anytime, anywhere.
This vision was also the key theme of a panel discussion – The Path to Services Everywhere: Progress Integrating NTNs – at the 6G Symposium last fall in Washington, D.C.
Mark Dankberg, Viasat CEO and Co-founder, and Chairman of the Mobile Satellite Services Association, participated in both a fireside chat and panel session during the event – offering his thoughts on the path to integration of terrestrial and NTN, and the issues to be addressed in developing an ecosystem for direct-to-device (D2D) capabilities to be widely available.
The session, which included provider and academic perspectives, began with discussing how chip companies are seeing more opportunity to integrate satellite capabilities into personal devices. This creates potential for an acceleration of users on the network, transforming the potential market from millions to billions.
Dankberg said, “The big thing now that’s the attraction is, instead of having a special device, every device is enabled. The issue is the antennas on those terrestrially centric devices are very poor compared to these satellite specific devices.” This is a challenge worth overcoming given the potential value and benefits it could bring for customers.
Some of the key takeaways from the discussion are included below.
Takeaway 1: Mobile satellite services won’t just be for rural areas – suburban and urban areas will benefit too
It’s often assumed that satellite services are only helpful for users in rural or remote areas. The reality, however, is that satellite services can offer support to users in both rural and urban settings.
“I think what’s happened often with satellite is people envision satellite services for rural areas... But it turns out that the absolute number of people who benefit from satellite services in metro areas or in the populous states tends to way overwhelm the number of people that would use it in rural areas.”
D2D applications are a good example, as satellite can provide a valuable augmentation to terrestrial cellular coverage to help fill “dead spots” in coverage that can exist in urban and suburban areas. Filling those gaps in coverage can offer users a more seamless experience, avoiding the hassle of a dropped call or frustration of not being able to send a text message.
Dankberg also emphasized the importance of understanding what services will be offered and being able to deliver them effectively.
“One of the other big challenges is how do you make services that have sufficient bandwidth density, so you have enough bandwidth available to serve the demand in these high demand places,” he said, explaining further that using licensed MSS spectrum helps meets this need.
Takeaway 2: Terrestrial Spectrum Allocation versus Licensed MSS Spectrum
The panel discussed the two main paths to access spectrum for delivering direct-to-device satellite capabilities.
The first method is to repurpose terrestrial spectrum for specific satellite coverage (known in the United States as Supplemental Coverage from Space). One significant downside with this approach is that it limits the availability of spectrum for terrestrial use, meaning it is no longer available to serve with terrestrial customers. As Dankberg pointed out “the economic utility of that spectrum when used from space would be much lower than if it was used from terrestrial.” In addition, because the terrestrial spectrum is not internationally allocated for satellite use, there is a significant risk that such use could interfere with, or otherwise be technically incompatible with, other spectrum uses.
Instead, MSSA supports using the licensed mobile satellite services spectrum has already been allocated for that purpose. There is upwards of 100 MHz of L-band and S-band spectrum that is already allocated and licensed for mobile satellite services (MSS). With this approach, MSSA aims to support the creation of open architectures and use aggregated spectrum to create an economically viable market of scalable services.
Takeaway 3: Open architecture systems can reduce airtime costs and increase interoperability and roaming capabilities
Dankberg discussed the potential for open architecture systems to reduce airtime costs and increase the interoperability of various services.
“What we think is one of the things that’s going to drive interest in these non-terrestrial networks is getting those airtime costs to be much closer to terrestrial airtime costs,” said Dankberg. “What MSSA is really trying to do is create this open architecture framework, and that is new… Given the standards in the open architecture, there’s an opportunity for interoperability. And what that should do also is make the economics of implementing those services much more cost effective.”
Members of the MSS ecosystem, including but not limited to operators, can align on common networking standards like the latest 3GPP standards. This could reduce airtime costs significantly, from the dollars-per-megabyte to the dollars-per-gigabyte range, making the cost of available capacity closer to the cost of terrestrial services.
A key benefit for consumers will be roaming capabilities that offer a seamless experience for the user, regardless of where they are trying to connect. This would be facilitated by creating an open infrastructure in space that could be shared by providers to bring more value and choice.
“If you think of satellite services augmenting their terrestrial service either within a country or internationally for roaming, we can create a roaming environment where just as if when you’re roaming to a different country, you have the opportunity to roam through space to multiple different spectrum holders and service providers,” said Dankberg.
Takeaway 4: National security and ensuring sovereignty are a concern
One significant challenge that Dankberg pointed out was national security. Unlike terrestrial services, satellite services can bypass the entire national telecom infrastructure, which is concerning for many countries. He explained, “if everybody in your country with a cell phone has the ability to bypass your entire terrestrial infrastructure, that’s a scary prospect.”
Therefore, finding a path to ensuring compliance with national laws and maintaining national sovereignty while providing satellite services is a crucial consideration as the global D2D market continues to evolve, and something that MSSA supports.
“If you are aware of these problems, you can design networks in ways that countries can maintain the sovereignty of their network and still get the benefits of NTN,” Dankberg continued.
For more information and insights, you can watch the full recorded session online.