This co-operation agreement brings together two widely recognised industry organisations in the field of 5G cellular and satellite networks, respectively. Conscious of the need to expand the benefits of connectivity to as many potential citizens as possible, NGMN and ESOA wish to explore synergies between satellite and terrestrial technologies. This will allow mobile and satellite operators to assess the benefits of new business models that will extend connectivity and potentially unleash new markets and growth for both sectors.

“The NGMN project on Extreme Long-Range Communications for Deep Rural Coverage provides essential guidance in terms of end-to-end requirements for rural scenarios”, said Peter Meissner, CEO of the NGMN Alliance. “We are looking forward to a close co-operation with ESOA to jointly drive successful global development of the required 5G technology platform for the benefit of the whole industry. The integration of Non-Terrestrial Networks with greatly expanded reach can help operators to provide services to most or all of their territory.”

Aarti Holla Maini, Secretary General of ESOA, stated: “The cooperation between NGMN and ESOA is an important step forward to working towards true universal 5G through a Network of Networks. 5G needs a genuine commitment to making cross-sector cooperation a success in order to really deliver a tangible difference over 4G/LTE and to extend connectivity overall. The cooperation will therefore exclusively focus on technologies, their real business impact and their potential interworking and integration.”