Page 58 - SAMENA Trends - October 2021

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Viasat Expands Brazilian Business Jet In-Flight Coverage with Telebras

Satellite Capacity

Viasat will use capacity from Brazilian state-owned operators, pursue new business in these important regions,
telecommunications services provider Telebras to expand its Ka- and further establish Viasat’s market presence globally.” Viasat
band In-Flight Connectivity (IFC) coverage for business jets in then plans to augment coverage and capacity in these regions
Brazil. The satellite operator said Tuesday that the extra capacity with its upcoming ViaSat-3 Ka-band satellite constellation –
would come from Telebras’ SGDC-1 (Geostationary Satellite for comprised of three satellites that are scheduled to be launched
Defense and Strategic Communications), its Ka-band partner to Geostationary Orbit next year. The satellites are designed to
satellite. With the expansion, Viasat said it can now provide provide broadband connectivity with speeds of 8-plus Mbps to
service to more than 90% of Brazilian business aviation flight global commercial, enterprise, and government customers.
paths. “Business aircraft operating in the country will be able to
access Viasat’s advanced connectivity from takeoff to touchdown
— at speeds typically greater than 20 Mbps — enabling passengers
to do the same connected activities in the air as they do on the
ground, including video, music and TV streaming, video calls, VPN
and more,” Viasat said in its coverage expansion announcement.
Moving forward, the operator is set to provide expanded coverage
and capacity across parts of Europe and the Middle East on the
Avanti Communication Group‘s HYLAS-4 and HYLAS-2 satellites.
This expansion was originally announced as part of a deal it struck
with Avanti in June. In the announcement, Viasat said it would
begin to leverage Avanti’s satellites beginning this month. “We’re
excited to bring additional coverage for our advanced in-flight
connectivity solution to the business aviation markets in Brazil
and, in the near future, Europe and the Middle East,” said Viasat
Business Aviation Area Director Claudio D’Amico. “This coverage
expansion will enable us to extend connectivity for existing

Verizon Partners with Amazon to Offer Satellite Internet in Rural Areas

US operator Verizon teamed with Amazon to develop connectivity improve connectivity in underserved areas. Verizon detailed
systems for underserved communities through the latter’s a desire to combine Amazon’s LEO satellite system with its
Project Kuiper Low Earth Orbit (LEO) satellite network, in addition wireless technology and infrastructure. Initially, the duo will
to jointly working on global enterprise services. In a statement, focus on expanding Verizon’s data networks using backhaul
Verizon revealed work had begun with Amazon’s Project Kuiper from Project Kuiper through antenna developments already in the
team to develop technical specifications and define preliminary works. Engineering teams are also working to define technical
commercial models for a range of connectivity services for US requirements to help extend fixed wireless access coverage
consumers and global enterprise customers operating in rural across the US. The companies explained they will work to
and remote locations. Amazon committed $10 billion to Project develop connectivity solutions for domestic and global industries
Kuiper, highlighting the e-commerce giant’s push to increase including agriculture, energy, manufacturing and transportation,
global broadband access through a constellation of 3,326 LEO using the operator’s private networking and edge compute set-
satellites designed to serve households, schools, businesses ups. Verizon chairman and CEO Hans Vestberg stated the future
and other organizations where internet access currently limited. will be built on 5G, which “must be accessible for all”. “Today’s
Project Kuiper is Amazon’s initiative in an ongoing global announcement will help us explore ways to bridge that divide and
space race, in which players including entrepreneur Elon Musk, accelerate the benefits and innovation of wireless connectivity”.
Facebook and global operators are pushing to use satellite to

58 OCTOBER 2021