The Role of Satellite in 5G

The final session of the recently held TLF 5G Conference by Voice&Data was on the role of satellite and 5G. Minu Sirsalewala, Executive Editor (Special Projects), CyberMedia, was the moderator.

Rahul Vatts, CRO, Airtel India, and Director, OneWeb, said 52% of the world still has no Internet access. 20% of fixed broadband connections are <10Mbps. LEO is revolutionizing the communications market. LEO satellites provide high-speed Internet where traditional ground infrastructure is hard to reach. Retail, commercial, and government users can have LEOs promote business digitalization and IoT adoption.

OneWeb is already 5G-band compatible. It has a beam-centric design at mmW (Ka-/Ku-bands) for improved spectral efficiency. OneWeb has a distribution agreement with Hughes. We have a launch arrangement with NSIL. The model is to partner with telcos for backhaul, remote coverage, IoT, and Industry 4.0, respectively.

The Indian space economy is likely to reach $12.8 billion by 2025, at CAGR of 6%. Emerging areas include high-speed/low-latency norms, space exploration, navigation solutions, etc. Startup industry can leverage space communications for deep in-land solutions, enabled by 5G, IoT drones, etc. We are awaiting a space policy. We need to consider 100% FDI to attract investment and technology transfer. We need to prioritize spectrum allocation and also reserve 28GHz.

Space has a lot of potential for India. Satellite comes with its own set of challenges. We now need to miniaturize the satellites. OneWeb satellite is hardly 13kg. We have 40 satellites launching at one time. A total of 650 satellites are covering the globe. We need to get the spectrum. India has to endorse the same spectrum given to the world. India has not yet visualized an operator that has 500 satellites. There is no separate gateway license that is available. InSpace is the right step in the direction. Once you have all this in place, you need to build your entire network. Today, we need multiple approvals before we can start a service. This has to change!

We already have a 5G satellite-ready network. Rel-18 is going to come out soon. Apple launched a new device that allows satellite connectivity. OneWeb will have 2^nd generation models prepared by 2026, which will also be 6G ready. Pricing depends on the apps used. OneWeb has tied up with AT&T for coverage in USA. Government has the priority to connect the country. Our market is backhaul, ships, mines, etc.

Lt. Gen. AK Bhatt (Retd), Director General, Indian Space Association (ISpA), said what’s available for the world, has to be harmonized by India. India cannot have its own policy. Satellites today provide ubiquitous coverage worldwide. We have been arguing that 28GHz should be shared. We also need to have a single-window clearance. We need to be clear about how the satellite will communicate.

Satellites have actually come to light since the last decade. It used to be at 36,000km, but that had a challenge. Now, they have come down to 500km and 2,00km. That has lot of effect on latency. There are disruptive technologies that have come in. We can make use of the USO funds to connect the unconnected parts of India. Regarding startups in the space sector, it is the most exciting domain. There will be 36 satellite constellations by end of next year. Pixxel will be launching this next year. They are available for mining, disaster management, etc. Another player from IIT is looking at debris management. They launched on June 30^th with the very first solution. We will also have rockets made with 3D technology very soon.