Intelsat Advances 3GPP Approval for Unified Satellite and Terrestrial Network

The 3GPP mobile standards organization has approved an Intelsat-led Ku-band project for standardization. Intelsat led the effort with support from 35 companies and 3GPP community members, including other satellite operators, terrestrial vendors, and mobile network operators (MNOs).

The approval of the “Ku-band Work Package” means that Intelsat and other satellite providers will now begin the process leading to full certification to deploy Ku-band-based 5G New Radio (NR) services, targeted to be completed at the end of 2025. 

Intelsat calls this a crucial step towards the Intelsat Unified Network vision. The satellite operator said this project will broaden the reach of Ku-band satellite services with the mobile industry’s economies of scale to allow mass-market devices like smartphones, mobile VSATs, and industrial IoT devices to roam across satellite constellations and terrestrial cellular networks.

Intelsat CTO Bruno Fromont commented: “We will continue to spearhead the significant effort required to specify and standardize Ku-band use cases and conduct all applicable coexistence configurations, facilitating the integration of satellite network components into 5G NR systems and ensuring seamless mobility between terrestrial and non-terrestrial networks.”