Eutelsat is a French satellite company which operates a fleet of 36 GEO (geostationary orbit) satellites covering Europe, Africa, the Middle East and the Americas. In June 2022, the company announced plans for a merger with satellite company OneWeb. Read more...

While Japan’s Rakuten and Dish in the US have launched greenfield Open RAN networks, India’s Jio missed its Q2 2021 launch date for its 5G rollout. In Germany, newcomer 1&1 is planning its greenfield play that will be built and managed by Rakuten. This research note outlines the Open RAN… Read more...

Support for Open RAN continues to grow, although the path forward for the Open RAN ecosystem remains unclear. In a series of research notes, PolicyTracker outlines the development of the Open RAN movement, the benefits claimed for Open RAN and how it is being implemented by both green and brownfield… Read more...

One thing that Open RAN has in common with traditional network deployments is the need for sufficient spectrum. Similarly, delays in the availability of spectrum affect operator plans for both 5G and Open RAN. Policymakers are increasingly supporting the Open RAN movement and many are implementing measures to promote Open… Read more...

Despite its critics, the Open RAN movement continues to take shape in 2022, expanding beyond greenfield operators to a growing number of brownfield operators with plans for the phased integration of Open RAN and vRAN into legacy networks. Among brownfield operators, there is a trend to promote shared Open RAN… Read more...

The proliferation of a diverse range of Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS), particularly those operating at low-altitude, is challenging traditional air traffic management systems where traditional airspace classifications and rules of flight do not map to drone operations. Read more...

Spectrum allocated for satellite services and/or mobile broadband are increasingly being considered for UAS. In 2022, battle lines are forming between supporters and opponents of WRC-23 satellite allocations enabling beyond line of sight C2 link for UAS. Read more...

Despite the demise of Loon's balloons in January 2021, industry and government support for the development of High-Altitude Platform Stations, or HAPS, continues. There is broad interest in this connectivity solution; a new layer or architecture – between terrestrial and satellite networks – to deliver commercial communications services, particularly in… Read more...

The International Telecommunications Union explicitly recognises High-Altitude Platform Stations, or HAPS, as an application of a service and has progressively identified a range of spectrum bands for use by HAPS in the fixed service and by HIBS in the mobile service. WRC-23 is particularly focused on examining new spectrum resources… Read more...

High-Altitude Platform Station, or HAPS, systems represent a new layer – between terrestrial and satellite networks – to deliver commercial connectivity solutions. Management systems for the coexistence of multiple different platforms in the stratosphere is making very slow progress and in the absence of a regulatory framework, operation of HAPS… Read more...