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Two European satellite companies — UK-based Inmarsat and Solaris Mobile, a joint venture between Luxembourg-based SES Astra and France’s Eutelsat — are expected to be given 18-year rights to S-band radio spectrum in 27 countries across Europe, leaving two US bidders, ICO Global Communications and TerreStar, empty-handed.
The S-band licence is potentially highly valuable. When you think about it, mobile phone operators have spent years gathering licences for pan-European mobile phone coverage, and now with a single license Inmarsat and Solaris Mobile grabbed the license in a snap.
According to analysts, the real value could come from satellite companies partnering with terrestrial mobile phone operators wanting to use the spectrum. This way satellite companies could rent mobile operators (and other interested parties, for that matter) more bandwidth for broadband services across Europe. Moreover, S-band could be a good way to get in the mobile space. Google instantly comes to mind as they have already invested in a company building satellite broadband coverage in Africa.
At the moment, there are no information whether a company such as Google will step up for a partnership, though.
[Via: FT]
About The Author
Dusan Belic
Dusan has been using smartphones since their introduction and is now following the latest trends in the industry. The "convergence" is what he's most excited about, and writing about it is the next logical thing to do. He thinks that using a smartphone is what everyone who cares about their time should do. In addition to his interests in mobile phones, Dusan also loves to experiment with the latest web and mobile 2.0 services. The idea of accessing and managing your information from any device no matter where you are simply amazes him. Whether it's an online to-do list, note taking service or a video sharing social network, he's there to try it out. He admits though, he's still searching for the ultimate web-based organizational tool, which "sings" perfectly with the mobile PIM application. Dusan used to run SymbianWatch.com which later became part of IntoMobile. He lives in Serbia, South-East Europe, from where he edits the site on a daily basis.
