2degrees says it has successfully sent and received text messages via satellite from a “standard mobile phone”, after earlier claiming it was leading the market in preparing to allow mobile customers to communicate by satellite when outside normal cellphone coverage.
Chief executive Mark Callander said the trial was conducted north of Whanganui using a satellite and Sim card provided by its satellite partner, United States company Lynk Global.
However, rival One NZ, which announced a deal with SpaceX in April to provide “100% mobile coverage of the country” some time next year through the Starlink satellite network, indicated it was confident its service would have the upper hand.
One NZ spokesperson Matt Flood revealed that it had conducted a similar messaging test in January, also using Lynk, before it then decided to partner with SpaceX – meaning 2degrees’ trial was not a New Zealand first.
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The jostle for bragging rights appears to be an indication of the significance that mobile phone companies are attaching to the so-called “cell tower in the sky” technology in helping them win and retain customers.
As well as providing a way for people to communicates when they are outside normal coverage, for example when tramping in the bush, it could provide a back-up when storms or fibre-optic cable cuts knock out cellphone towers, as happened during Cyclone Gabrielle.
Forsyth Barr senior analyst Aaron Ibbotson has said the technology “could be more significant than many people have given it credit for in the long term”.
Callander said 2degrees’ next step would be to conduct a trial using its own Sim cards.
“Once we have done that, we’ll look to start offering the service to customers. We are only months’ away from getting this into Kiwi’s hands, so we’ll be ‘the first in market’ in New Zealand by more than a year.”
He predicted its service would be “a game changer” but acknowledged it would initially only work “when Lynk satellites are passing overhead”.
“As more satellites are launched, the more frequent overpasses will become. Lynk has an aggressive launch schedule, so we will see this expand quickly over the coming couple of years.”
Voice and data services would follow, he said.
“Ultimately, this will be a ‘full cell service’ unbound by New Zealand’s geography. Kiwis will be able to connect no matter where they are in New Zealand or our territorial waters.”
Lynk currently only has three satellites circling the globe in low orbit that are capable of letting people send and receive text messages and has reported, but hopes to have six by the end of the year, 40 to 50 next year, and up to 300 by 2026.
The more satellites, the more likely it is that one will be overhead at the “right time” and the greater the window or the less any lag sending and receiving messages, so the more useful the service will be.
One NZ has suggested the size of the network SpaceX can put into space will give it the edge when it comes to eliminating coverage holes for customers.
Its space-based cellular service will be provided using a new generation of Starlink satellites that are larger and heavier than the satellites it currently uses to provide its Starlink broadband service.
But Flood said SpaceX’s “proven track record of launching over 4000 satellites into space” was important “given the ultimate success of this service will rely on almost continuous satellite coverage to reduce delivery delays”.
SpaceX has its own launch vehicles to deploy its network but is a business with a broader focus, while Lynk is a specialist start-up targeting the opportunity that is more in the position of having to raise funding to build out its network as it goes.
Spark has been the quietest of the three mobile network providers when it comes to the space-based innovation, to date.
It told investors in April that it would have a satellite-to-mobile offer available for customers “by the time technology is available”, but has yet to name its satellite partner.
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