Page 52 - SAMENA Trends - September 2023

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Vodafone Partners with Amazon to Expand Coverage in Europe, Africa

Vodafone partnered with Amazon’s satellite connectivity company
Project Kuiper, a move to use the latter’s low earth orbit satellites
(LEO) to extend 4G/5G coverage for Vodafone and Vodacom
subscribers in Europe and Africa. In a statement, Vodafone Group
explained the LEO satellites can deliver 4G/5G connectivity to
remote locations with little traditional infrastructure such as fiber
or microwave solutions. Project Kuiper will connect geographically
dispersed antennas back into Vodafone’s core telecom networks.
This, the operator explained, enables Vodafone and Vodacom to
offer 4G and 5G services in more locations with less time and
expense compared to building fiber-based or fixed wireless links
back to its core. As part of the partnership, the companies will also
roll out Project Kuiper’s high-speed broadband services to “tens
of millions” of people from underserved communities. Also, being
explored are additional enterprise–specific offerings to provide
businesses with comprehensive global connectivity solutions, such
as backup service for unexpected events and extending connectivity
to remote infrastructure. Vodafone Group CEO Margherita Della
Valle said: “Vodafone’s work with Project Kuiper will provide mobile
connectivity to many of the estimated 40% of the global population
without internet access, supporting remote communities, their
schools and businesses, the emergency services, and disaster
relief. These connections will be complemented further through
our own work on direct-to-smartphone satellite services.” Shameel
Joosub, Vodacom Group CEO said: “Collaborating with Project
Kuiper gives us an exciting new path to scale our efforts, using
Amazon’s satellite constellation to quickly reach more customers
across the African continent.”

SpaceX Launches Starlink Satellites on Record-Breaking 62nd Mission of

the Year

SpaceX just set a new launch record. The company sent 21 from NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida at 10:47 p.m. EDT
of its Starlink internet satellites to orbit atop a Falcon 9 rocket (0247 GMT on Sept. 4). It was SpaceX's 62nd orbital mission of
2023, setting a new record for most flights in a year, according to
company founder and CEO Elon Musk. The old mark was set in
2022. The Falcon 9's first stage came back to Earth as plane. It
touched down about 8.5 minutes after liftoff on the drone ship Just
Read the Instructions, which was stationed in the Atlantic Ocean.
It was the 10th launch and landing for this particular booster,
according to a SpaceX mission description. The Falcon 9's upper
stage, meanwhile, kept on flying. It's scheduled to deploy the 21
Starlink satellites into low Earth orbit (LEO) about 65 minutes after
liftoff. The launch was part of a big day for SpaceX. The company
is also bringing home the four astronauts of its Crew-6 mission,
who had been at the International Space Station (ISS) since March.
Crew-6's Crew Dragon capsule, named Endeavour, departed the
ISS a little after 7 a.m. EDT (1100 GMT) today. It will splash down
in the ocean off the Florida coast at around 12:17 a.m. EDT (0417
GMT).

52 SEPTEMBER 2023