Vodafone and Idea which is now Vi Vodafone Idea (Vi) is all set to bring satellite communication services to become commercially viable by 2026.
Vi To Launch Satellite Communication Services By 2026
The telecom indicated that the final regulatory approvals will be taken care of by then.
The company’s partner AST Spacemobile awaits government licensing, according to a senior official.
Moving ahead, the telco’s 5G deployment across 29-30 cities in 17 circles has led to a 25-30% increase in total data traffic volume boosted by growing 5G device adoption, said Vodafone Idea chief technology officer Jagbir Singh.
The joint venture between UK’s Vodafone Group and India’s Aditya Birla Group (ABG) had tied up with AST Spacemobile, in June.
Here mentioned AST Spacemobile is a satellite communication company that counts Elon Musk’s SpaceX and Amazon’s Kuiper as rivals.
Presently, Vi’s 4G network covers 88% of 17 priority circles which is up from 83% nationwide, with plans to expand.
“Right now, we are sitting around 83% per year. And we may be around 88% if we take the top 17 circles where our focus is the most. So, this is the area where from 83 to maybe, you know like, we will keep increasing the new population coverage on 4G,” the CTO added.
The company also plans to strengthen the 5G network wherever required depending on the device penetration.
Vi is also prepared to launch Caller Name Presentation (CNAP) but needs government KYC clarity. “We are just awaiting clarity as an industry from the government on a couple of KYC things”, the CTO said.
It appears that the telecom awaits approvals for the format for display of names, limit of names under one user and layouts across different types of devices.
Checking Spam Calls and Messages
Please note here that this feature will be free-of-cost for all users.
This initiative by the government is mainly aimed at checking spam calls and messages.
Moving ahead, the officials said that “action will happen” next year during a recent media interaction at the telco’s Super Network Operations Centre (SNOC) in Pune.
“It will take a few months to get into a space of getting the commercial technology regulatory pieces all aligned,” said Ambika Khurana, Chief Regulatory and Corporate Affairs Officer, following Vi’s partnership with AST SpaceMobile earlier this year.
In this regard, the company officials were engaged with the Department of Telecommunications, including meetings last week.
on the question of the Fixed Wireless Access (FWA) space, Vi said it has decided against entering the market, choosing to focus exclusively on mobility services.
Confirming the same, the Chief Technical Officer at Vi, Jagbit Singh said, “For the time being, focus was mobility and focus is mobility. For Airtel and Jio, it is complementary. For us, it is a new business segment.”
