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SoftBank

Report: Denmark has best mobile experience in the world

Denmark leads the way in Tutela’s 2021 Global Mobile Experience Report, with the highest Excellent Consistent Quality at 86.16 per cent. Tutela’s Excellent Consistent Quality metric represents how often connections are good enough for demanding applications like 1080p video streaming, HD group video calling and real time mobile gaming. At an operator level, TDC Denmark […]

October 11, 2021

SoftBank buys Google Loon IP

Google, via its Alphabet parent company, has been developing its Loon high-altitude balloon-based platforms. The concept was that these very high-flying balloons would be platforms for distributing broadband signals to the ground. Japanese media conglomerate SoftBank says it has bought about 200 IP patents for Google’s High Altitude Platform Stations (HAPS) from Loon and will […]

October 4, 2021By Chris Forrester

Japan: SES, SoftBank partner to deliver live sport

SoftBank, a telecom carrier in Japan, has partnered with SES for the aggregation and delivery of live sporting events to its corporate customers, such as TV stations and video distribution companies. Under the new agreement, SES, via its global infrastructure of multi-orbit satellite fleets and fibre network, will aggregate content and deliver it directly to […]

September 30, 2021

Analyst: “OneWeb positioned for success”

Quilty Analytics, a specialist in research on the satellite and space sectors, says that low Earth orbiting (LEO) broadband satellite operator OneWeb is well placed for success. OneWeb’s next batch of satellites are scheduled to launch on September 14th. Quilty says that following the launch “OneWeb will have deployed about half of its 648-satellite constellation […]

August 31, 2021By Chris Forrester

Report: Japan’s 6G race has already begun

On August 23rd, Japanese mobile operator Softbank announced its plan for future 6G rollout. Said to be 100 times faster than 5G, 6G is expected for 2030 and is “a technology for the 2030s,” according to Ryuji Wakikawa, Vice President and Head of the Advanced Technology Division at SoftBank. This anticipation comes as an unexpected […]

August 27, 2021

OneWeb gains another major investor

Broadband-by-satellite operator OneWeb has won another significant investor. Hanwha Systems, a South Korean technology company, is investing $300 million in equity in OneWeb which will shortly start services from its fleet of Low Earth Orbiting satellites. In return, Hanwha will receive an 8.8 per cent stake in OneWeb. It can also contribute its latest antenna […]

August 12, 2021By Chris Forrester

OneWeb fully funded with extra Bharti cash

Bharti Global has invested an extra $500 million (€420.5m) into satellite constellation OneWeb. It means that the business is fully funded at $2.4 billion. The extra cash from Bharti means that it now owns 38.6 per cent of the business. The other key investors, Eutelsat, the UK government and Softbank, are each holding 19.3 per […]

June 29, 2021By Chris Forrester

Inmarsat revenues dip; wins Skylo IoT connectivity

Inmarsat has agreed to provide the capacity backbone to deliver the Internet of Things (IoT) systems of Skylo, a satellite-based narrow-band IoT specialist. The agreement pairs the UK-based Inmarsat’s satellite network with Skylo’s IoT services for connecting machines and sensors. It will, the duo claim, provide “even the most remotely located application users with real-time, […]

June 11, 2021By Chris Forrester

OneWeb and SoftBank get closer

Japanese media conglomerate SoftBank and satellite broadband provider OneWeb have announced an agreement for “mutual cooperation to promote OneWeb’s satellite communication services in the global and Japan markets. SoftBank and OneWeb will promote satellite communication services via the combination of OneWeb services and SoftBank’s services, including advanced communication and Digital Transformation platform services”. A joint […]

May 14, 2021By Chris Forrester

Bank: “Eutelsat can make OneWeb viable”

Eutelsat is taking a 24 per cent stake in OneWeb. Eutelsat’s fresh cash values OneWeb at $2.3 billion. However, Eutelsat is paying a significant premium to enter OneWeb. When the UK government and India’s Bharti Global invested their cash into OneWeb they placed their $500 million into the business and received 42 per cent of […]

April 28, 2021