2degrees has begun more extensive trials of satellite to mobile technology. The telco says staff and customers in the Nelson region are now testing the technology in “real world conditions”.
The test uses cellular equipment mounted on Lynk’s low earth orbit satellites. Callers are able to make voice calls or send and receive text messages in areas that are beyond the reach of the terrestrial cellular network.
For now the trial is limited because the service is only operational when a satellite is overhead. 2degrees CEO Mark Callander says availability will increase as more satellites are launched. Realistically it will be a few years before there is continual coverage.
Users can make calls on standard phone handsets, although not all models are supported.
Integration complete
Callander said 2degrees and Lynk have completed the necessary network integration to make the service work in NZ.
“We know people are really keen to get their hands on this – but the number of satellites in the sky means the service is only available for minutes at a time, and we want this to be longer and have conducted more testing in the wild before we release it widely.
“We’ve always said we’ll keep customers across progress on this technology – which is cutting edge and really exciting – but in its infancy. We now have the next generation of connectivity in the hands of a select group of customers, and they should be able to send and receive messages when out of terrestrial cell coverage."