Telekom, Skylo and Qualcomm demo SMS over satellite directly from smartphones

Deutsche Telekom, Qualcomm and Skylo, the pioneer in Non-Terrestrial Network (NTN) communications, has announced the successful completion of an end-to-end trial of SMS send and receipt over GEO satellite. It is the first time in Europe that an operator’s terrestrial mobile network has been integrated into a satellite network to enable texting based on the 3GPP Release 17 specifications for Direct-to-Handset (D2H) connectivity.

The standards-based operator-native NB-NTN D2H approach involves the integration of mobile operator terrestrial networks into Skylo’s non-terrestrial network to ensure ubiquitous coverage. It will allow customers in white spots without any access to terrestrial network to send and receive text messages globally using satellite connectivity.

The proof-of-concept, which was conducted in Greece at Deutsche Telekom’s Cosmote subsidiary, marks an important step on the road to commercial operator-native NTN services for customers in Europe.

“Our customers want to always stay connected. Direct-to-handset will be an add-on to our mobile networks allowing our customers to easily text from anywhere on their regular devices without any separate apps,” said Antje Williams, SVP Business Creation, Group Technology, Deutsche Telekom. “We aim to bring this technology into the hands of our customers. The successful effort of our team together with our partners to integrate the satellite and cellular network is just the beginning.”

“We are proud to partner with Deutsche Telekom and Qualcomm Technologies, Inc. to showcase the first direct-to-handset texts over satellite in Europe. Soon, subscribers won’t have to think twice about coverage before texting, whether they’re on a remote island in Greece or venturing in regions without cell coverage – it’ll be a part of their cellular service. The future of satellite connectivity is strong integration into carrier networks and we’re excited to partner with Deutsche Telekom which has been paving the way for these new services”, said Parthsarathi Trivedi, CEO and co-founder of Skylo Technologies.

“We are pleased to announce our collaboration with Deutsche Telekom and Skylo on this significant milestone in Europe. Together, we achieved NB-NTN direct-to-handset messaging using a device powered by the Snapdragon X80 5G Modem-RF System, strengthening the use of smartphone satellite connectivity,” said Dino Flore, Vice President, Technology at Qualcomm Europe, Inc. “The Snapdragon X80 5G Modem-RF System advanced capabilities provide the performance and flexibility to support these new features. We look forward to working with our partners to enhance satellite connectivity for consumers.”

Technical setup

In the test, the SMS was sent from a device with a Cosmote SIM card via Skylo’s satellite network in Mobile Satellite Services (MSS) spectrum based technically on 3GPP Release 17 specifications. The device was equipped with the Snapdragon® X-80 5G Modem-RF System and integrated NB-NTN satellite connectivity.

To enable the seamless roaming of the user equipment between the 5G terrestrial access networks and satellite access networks, Skylo’s commercially available non-terrestrial network was integrated into Cosmote’s production network.

The key advantage of dedicated, licensed MSS spectrum for connectivity is that it can be used on a pan-European basis, thus circumventing the challenges of international cross-border spectrum coordination. It also ensures ubiquitous coverage for customers in rural or rugged areas with white spots and support emergency communications or disaster response scenarios.