Vodafone can take credit for a world first. The telecommunications company has set up the first video call via satellite without the need for specialized equipment.
Vodafone unpacks a world first in a press release. Tech companies do this all the time, but the Swedish telecom company managed to establish a video call using an “ordinary” smartphone from a remote location in Wales where there is normally no coverage. The demonstration served as a promotional stunt for a satellite service the provider plans to roll out this year.
Satellite calls are not a new phenomenon: a satellite phone allows you to make calls from the most remote locations on the globe. Such calls then require specialized and often expensive equipment. Vodafone’s breakthrough is that it has been able to make a video call via satellite using an ordinary smartphone in a location where no network coverage is provided.
Calling space
Vodafone is working with space company AST Space Mobile to do this. If your phone cannot connect to a transmitter mast on the globe, it will look for a satellite in space. It then transmits the signal to a space-to-land gateway that then connects the satellite signal to the mobile network on land.
With one such land station, Vodafone says it can cover the entire territory of the United Kingdom. Starting this year, Vodafone plans to roll out its commercial satellite network widely in Europe. Any device that supports 4G or 5G connectivity should basically be able to connect to the network, so anyone with a modern phone can use it.
Satellite in your phone
Satellite technology is becoming available to the average person by mouth without the need for special equipment. Apple and Google have integrated support for satellite communications into their mobile operating systems. This is limited to emergency calls and is not yet available everywhere. It is also being experimented with for fixed Internet. Starlink Internet is a well-known example, but Orange also already offers it in Belgium and France.
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Satellite networks offer a solution for places that are impossible or difficult to reach with traditional networks. In a small and crowded country like Belgium, the need for such services is less, unless you are hiking deep in the Ardennes forests. But there are still many remote areas on the globe that until today have been cut off from telephone and Internet traffic.