Intelsat Advances Towards Full Certification for 5G Services Across Satellite and Terrestrial Networks

After a two-year campaign, Intelsat has successfully led the approval of the 3GPP “Ku-band Work Package” for standardization at last month’s 3GPP meeting in Shanghai. 3GPP, the 3rd Generation Partnership Project, is the organization that creates standards for global mobile communication technologies, under guidelines set by the ITU (International Telecommunication Union).

The move brings satellite and terrestrial networks a crucial step closer to achieving the goal of leveraging widely used Ku-band spectrum as a fully standardized 5G solution in space, extending and complementing terrestrial networks. This will deliver new functionality for users and open new opportunities for service providers both on the ground and in space.

The project will ultimately combine the global reach of satellite services using Ku band with the mobile industry’s economies of scale to allow mass-market devices (e.g., smartphones), mobile VSATs, and Industrial IoT devices to roam seamlessly across satellite constellations and terrestrial cellular networks.

Bridging Satellite and Cellular Networks

Intelsat led the effort with support from 35 companies and 3GPP community members, including other satellite operators, terrestrial vendors, and MNOs, who share the vision of deploying 5G NR (“New Radio”) services in the Ku-band, a section of radio spectrum commonly used for satellite-based telecommunications.

“Achieving the approval of the Ku work item is a major milestone,” says Bruno Fromont, CTO at Intelsat. “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.”

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 NR services, targeted to be completed at the end of 2025 and a crucial step towards the goals of the Intelsat Unified Network vision.