UK comms regulator Ofcom has confirmed that it will move ahead with plans to make the UK the first country in Europe to enable standard smartphones to connect to satellites using mobile spectrum bands. It means that services could soon be offered in the UK to enable standard smartphones to make calls, send texts and […]

The growing convergence of satellite technology and cellular smartphones has been made possible by integrating Non-Terrestrial Networks (NTN) connectivity into the 5G cellular ecosystem, as introduced in 3GPP Release-17. According to technology intelligence firm ABI Research, the NTN-Mobile segment has the potential to reach a market value of at least $18 billion (€16.5bn), with up […]

A study from Juniper Research has found that operator-billed revenue from carrier billing spend will reach $13.8 billion (€12.6bn) by 2027; rising from $9.3 billion in 2023. This rise of 47 per cent is accelerated by MNOs’ (Mobile Network Operators) use of super bundling, which attracts new customers and revenue streams. Super bundling is the […]

Vodacom is the mobile leader in South Africa having grown its market (y-o-y) from 44.3 million active subscribers to 45.77 million as at December 31st 2021. This represent a 42 per cent market share. Second place is occupied by MTN which had (as at September 30th 2021) 33.51 million subs (and a 31 per cent […]

Gilat Satellite Networks, a global player in satellite networking technology, solutions and services, has announced that Africa’s largest satellite cellular backhaul network is extending its coverage to a dozen countries in Africa. Africa Mobile Networks (AMN) has deployed Gilat hubs and placed additional orders of Gilat cellular backhaul terminals to serve multiple Tier-1 Telcos in […]

High-throughput satellite capacity specialist Avanti Communications has launched Avanti EXTEND – a new managed satellite service for rural connectivity. Designed specifically for Mobile Network Operators (MNOs), Avanti EXTEND provides high-performance and cost-effective 2G, 3G and 4G solutions to remote and hard-to-reach areas across sub-Saharan Africa. This enables customers to provide reliable cellular service to the […]