{"id":17265,"date":"2023-09-06T19:22:51","date_gmt":"2023-09-06T11:22:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp-productionenv-bjg9h2g2bgg5b8aa.southeastasia-01.azurewebsites.net\/news\/amazons-kuiper-satellite-network-forges-partnership-with-vodafones-cell-networks\/"},"modified":"2023-09-06T19:22:51","modified_gmt":"2023-09-06T11:22:51","slug":"amazons-kuiper-satellite-network-forges-partnership-with-vodafones-cell-networks","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/news\/amazons-kuiper-satellite-network-forges-partnership-with-vodafones-cell-networks\/","title":{"rendered":"Amazon\u2019s Kuiper satellite network forges partnership with Vodafone\u2019s cell networks"},"content":{"rendered":"
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A cellular tower serves as the backdrop for Project Kuiper\u2019s satellite terminal. (Amazon Photo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Vodafone and its African subsidiary, Vodacom, have made a deal to use Amazon\u2019s yet-to-be-deployed Project Kuiper satellite broadband network to extend the reach of their 4G\/5G cellular networks.<\/p>\n

The deal, which was announced this week by Amazon as well as British-based Vodafone, would give Project Kuiper business connections in Europe and Africa that are comparable to Amazon\u2019s previously announced partnership with Verizon for extending telecom services in the U.S.<\/p>\n

Vodafone and its subsidiaries provide mobile and fixed telecom service to more than 300 million customers in 17 countries, and partner with mobile networks in 46 other countries. \u201cThis is our second telco partnership, and we look forward to working with other telcos,\u201d an Amazon spokesperson told GeekWire in an email.<\/p>\n

Like SpaceX\u2019s Starlink satellite network, Project Kuiper aims to provide broadband internet service to millions of people around the world who are underserved. SpaceX is far ahead of Amazon: While SpaceX has deployed thousands of Starlink satellites and has more than 1.5 million subscribers, Amazon hasn\u2019t yet deployed a single Kuiper satellite.<\/p>\n

Kuiper\u2019s first prototypes are due for launch as early as this month, kicking off what\u2019s expected to be an ambitious campaign to deploy half of the network\u2019s planned 3,236 satellites by mid-2026. The satellite operations for Kuiper and for Starlink are both based in Redmond, Wash.<\/p>\n

Project Kuiper\u2019s plan calls for selling satellite terminals to end users, as well as working with partners to connect geographically dispersed cellular antennas with the companies\u2019 core telecom networks. The latter strategy is the focus of the newly announced deal with Vodafone and Vodacom.<\/p>\n

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Vodafone Group Chief Executive Margherita Della Valle and Dave Limp, Amazon\u2019s senior vice president for devices and services, show off two satellite antennas for Amazon\u2019s Project Kuiper network. (Vodafone Photo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cVodafone\u2019s 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,\u201d Vodafone Group\u2019s chief executive, Margherita Della Valle, said in a news release. \u201cThese connections will be complemented further through our own work on direct-to-smartphone satellite services.\u201d<\/p>\n

Amazon\u2019s senior vice president for devices and services, Dave Limp, said the partnership is a good match for Project Kuiper.<\/p>\n

\u201cAmazon is building Project Kuiper to provide fast, affordable broadband to tens of millions of customers in unserved and underserved communities, and our flexible network means we can connect places that have traditionally been difficult to reach,\u201d said Dave Limp, Amazon\u2019s senior vice president for devices and services. <\/p>\n

\u201cTeaming with a leading international service provider like Vodafone allows us to make a bigger impact faster in closing the digital divide in Europe and Africa,\u201d Limp said. \u201cTogether we\u2019ll explore how we can help our customers get the most value from expanded connectivity, particularly in areas like residential broadband, agriculture, education, healthcare, transportation and financial services.\u201d<\/p>\n

Shameel Joosub, CEO of Vodacom Group, highlighted the prospects for widening broadband service in Africa. \u201cCollaborating with Project Kuiper gives us an exciting new path to scale our efforts, using Amazon\u2019s satellite constellation to quickly reach more customers across the African continent,\u201d Joosub said.<\/p>\n

Amazon\u2019s current plan calls for starting the deployment of operational satellites next year, and beginning beta tests of the network with select customers by the end of 2024. Vodafone and Vodacom say they plan to participate in those tests.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A cellular tower serves as the backdrop for Project Kuiper\u2019s satellite terminal. (Amazon Photo) Vodafone and its African subsidiary, Vodacom, have made a deal to use Amazon\u2019s yet-to-be-deployed Project Kuiper satellite broadband network to extend the reach of their 4G\/5G cellular networks. The deal, which was announced this week by Amazon as well as British-based […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[275,962,4336,4538,4539],"class_list":["post-17265","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news","tag-amazon","tag-project-kuiper","tag-satellite-broadband","tag-vodacom","tag-vodafone"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17265"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=17265"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17265\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=17265"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=17265"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=17265"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}