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Intelsat
and SoftBank Mobile Conclude
Successful Field Trial of
Managed, Rural 3G Mobile Phone
Service in Kenya
29 August 2013
Intelsat S.A. and Japan-based
SoftBank Mobile Corp. today
announced the successful trial
of a cost-effective, rural 3G
mobile phone service in Kenya.
Intelsat supported the
demonstration through capacity
on the Intelsat 10 satellite and
via the company's teleport in
Fuchsstadt, Germany.
The demonstration reinforced
Intelsat's ability to deliver a
high throughput, managed
VSAT-based 3G solution through
the allocation of capacity based
on traffic demands. Intelsat's
fleet and IntelsatOne
terrestrial network were
instrumental in enabling the
deployment in rural Kenya, an
area of Africa not supported by
traditional land line
infrastructure.
"There are still hundreds of
millions of people who live
outside mobile network coverage
areas today," said Junichi
Miyakawa, executive vice
president, director & CTO of
SoftBank Mobile. "Harnessing
SoftBank's technology in rural
parts of the world literally
matches our corporate
philosophy, 'Information
Revolution - Happiness for
everyone.' I hope this
technology will make
communication even more free and
convenient for people around the
world."
"The successful field trial of a
cost-effective, managed
VSAT-based, rural 3G service
delivery solution is an
excellent example of the
collaborative innovation that
our industry requires to
properly support the demands of
its end users," said Intelsat
vice president of network
services product management
Steve Good.
"We are confident that
technology advancements, such as
this and our Intelsat EpicNG
platform, will allow mobile
operators to provide reliable,
ubiquitous support to their most
remote users, and provide a
robust broadband infrastructure
as networks upgrade from 2G to
3G, and eventually to 4G via
satellite."
SoftBank Mobile also utilizes
the Intelsat 8 satellite and a
managed service offering via the
IntelsatOne terrestrial network
for the delivery of cellular and
data backhaul services to its
customers across the southern
islands of Japan. The agreement
enables SoftBank Mobile to
expand its service area and
enhance the company's offerings
to customers in this
geographically dispersed section
of Japan.
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