EchoStar Expects S-Band Service Launch Within Months
EchoStar's yearslong planning and investment in S-band services could start bearing fruit late this year or early next when it expects the first devices using the LoRa protocol to be available, Chief Strategy Officer Anders Johnson told us. That opens the door to the satellite operator selling a geostationary orbit-based IoT overlay to terrestrial IoT networks in the EU. He said the company has been talking with satellite manufacturers about possible design of a 5G non-geostationary orbit (NGSO) constellation that could provide S-band services across much the rest of the globe, with launches starting as early as 2024.
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A June 30 nanosatellite launch and orbit raising (see 2108040053) let EchoStar fulfill an ITU regulatory milestone with the spectrum, after 2020 failures of two other nanosatellite launches. Johnson said last month that the company will have a different regulatory status by year's end that will also smooth the path for working on development and implementation of S-band services. EchoStar and LoRa chipmaker Semtech announced collaboration earlier this year on testing satellite-delivered IoT connectivity.
Johnson said EchoStar will launch a test using modules with Semtech LoRa chips that if successful in Europe will prove the case for investing in NGSO. “We want to be active in creating the opportunity” for NGSO to be satellite extension of 5G networks where there's no terrestrial coverage, he said.
EchoStar has satellite rights for the 2 GHz band and a complementary ground component in the EU, and priority at the ITU level for use of the band worldwide, but "it gets complicated" in the U.S. where Dish Network holds S-band rights, Johnson said. Dish is using its ancillary terrestrial component S-band rights domestically in building out its terrestrial 5G network, and EchoStar will be working with Dish on possible collaboration combining the EchoStar satellite service with Dish's terrestrial service, he said. Dish didn't comment Friday.
Inmarsat also has S-band spectrum holdings in Europe, but its deployment has been for applications such as air-to-ground for in-cabin aeronautical connectivity, and Inmarsat's IoT initiatives will likely use the L band, Johnson said. Inmarsat didn't comment. EchoStar previously made an unsuccessful bid for Inmarsat (see 1806110035). Inmarsat's "fairly de minimus S-band spectrum holdings" aren't likely to result in another EchoStar attempt, emailed Quilty Analytics' Chris Quilty. He said Inmarsat is controlled by a private equity consortium that's in the early stages of implementing its strategy, so it's an unlikely candidate for a takeover bid by EchoStar or Dish.
EchoStar has been pursuing an S-band strategy since 2013, when it acquired Solaris Mobile. Its 2019 acquisition of IoT connectivity company Helios Wire and Helios' Sirion Global was all about Sirion's global spectrum rights for an S-band mobile satellite service, Johnson said recently.
The 2020 nanosatellite failures had to do with propulsion system anomalies, Johnson said. He noted EchoStar had concerns enough about that happening early on, when it exercised its option for a third satellite for which it changed the design and opted for "a more primitive but understood" chemical propellant system. One of those first two isn't in the right orbit but is in communication with EchoStar, he said.