Telecom carrier NTT has teamed up with Amazon to launch a satellite internet service in Japan with a trial scheduled for as early as 2024, in a move aimed at challenging rival operator SpaceX in the fledgling sector.
Amazon's broadband service, Project Kuiper, began with the launch of two prototype satellites in October. The internet e-commerce group plans to establish a constellation of 3,236 satellites in low Earth orbit (LEO) and provide broadband connections around the world.
SpaceX's Starlink already has more than 5,000 satellites in LEO and the American company has been working with Japanese telecom carrier KDDI to provide satellite broadband services in Japan since 2021.
Amazon's Japanese partners include NTT, its mobile and international telecom units, as well as Sky Perfect JSAT, a satellite broadcaster.
The group said in a statement that their service will be available to businesses and government organizations. "The companies plan to use Project Kuiper to provide their customers with new connectivity options to build out resilient, redundant communications networks," the statement said.
An NTT spokesperson said that a retail customer service is under consideration.
Project Kuiper is set to begin testing services in the second half of 2024. NTT and Sky Perfect JSAT plan to take part in the testing.
Satellite broadband has so far required a separate antenna and has been used mainly to provide internet connection to remote areas and islands, and war zones where normal services have been cut off. Satellites are also used as backup for terrestrial networks in case those connections are lost in accidents or natural disasters.
Gaining business from the government alone, however, will not be enough to pay for the cost of developing satellite infrastructure, which is why operators are working on providing satellite-to-smartphone services, said Atsushi Murakami, president of Satellite Business Network, a Japanese space consultancy company.
Starlink is aiming to launch a "direct to cell" service in 2024. This will allow the user to send text messages, but will not offer as many functions as regular terrestrial services do, due to limited bandwidth.
NTT is Japan's largest telecom carrier and KDDI is the No. 2. The third largest carrier, SoftBank, has a partnership with another satellite broadband operator, OneWeb.
In places where satellite networks are not available, operators have to gain approval from local governments to provide their services. But even if they gain approval, there may not be enough demand for their services at this point, Murakami said.
Japan is already mostly connected to broadband internet via optical fiber networks, which can support the transmission of large amounts of data and services such as online games and movies.
"Consumers are unlikely to switch to satellite-to-smartphone services until the quality of those services catches up with those of optical fiber networks," Murakami said.