The company is working Smart Communications to explore and demonstrate the capabilities of space-based 5G communications
According to its website, Virginia-based Omnispace is on a mission to create “the world’s first truly global 5G network” by “united” mobile roaming with satellite technology. In service of this mission, the company has already launched two low earth orbit (LEO) satellites into space: The Spark-1 in April 2022 and the Spark-2 just a month later. Now, the company is partnering with Filipino telco company PLDT’s wireless subsidiary Smart Communications to explore and demonstrate the capabilities of space-based 5G communications using such satellites.
Omnispace’s goal is to interconnect its satellite 5G network with terrestrial mobile networks utilizing the company’s 2 GHz mobile satellite spectrum allocation and operating in 3GPP band n256.
For PLDT, the collaboration provides the opportunity to define the use cases for a satellite 5G network that might directly impact the Filipino market, explained Arvin L. Siena. He added that potential use cases include providing 5G connectivity to remote areas, the use of IoT and sensors to monitoring weather disturbances and disasters and aiding in network coverage for disaster relief.
Siena continued: “This is also part of PLDT’s broader initiatives to future-proof our services, including Smart 5G. This includes exploring opportunities to team up with companies like Omnispace, to test the interoperability of our network with their 3GPP-compliant 5G non-terrestrial network (NTN), which will support the 5G ecosystem of the future.”
“We are excited to announce this collaborative agreement with Smart Communications, which shares our vision of delivering reliable mobile connectivity to consumer, government and enterprise users, everywhere,” said Brian Pemberton, VP of sales and marketing at Omnispace. “Together with Smart, we seek to bridge the digital divide, while also providing the communications infrastructure to power the development of the Filipino economy of the future.”
The U.S. company worked with several industry partners on its aforementioned satellite launches, including NanoAvionics, which provided the satellites buses, launch support and in-orbit operations, while Anywaves provided the payloads user antennas and Syrlinks provided the S-band instruments for the payloads.
