March 7, 2025
BARCELONA – The telecommunications industry is increasing moves to develop the practical application of communication networks using space and the stratosphere. The aim is to provide telecommunication services to remote islands, sea areas, mountainous areas, as well as areas where it has been difficult to develop communication networks, by utilizing artificial satellites and unmanned aircraft.
These efforts gathered interest at Mobile World Congress (MWC), a trade show dedicated to telecommunications equipment and technology held March 3-6 in Barcelona.
Flying base station
One of the highlights of NTT Docomo, Inc.’s booth at MWC was unmanned vehicles, or high-altitude platform stations (HAPS), that fly in the stratosphere, using relay devices to provide mobile connectivity in mountainous and remote areas.
The company is strengthening the promotion of HAPS overseas with the aim of commercialization in 2026. It showcased a model of a large, unmanned aircraft equipped with base station functions and played videos introducing demonstration experiments at MWC.
In conjunction with the trade show, NTT Docomo announced that it successfully conducted a demonstration experiment using HAPS in Kenya. The company confirmed that an unmanned aircraft made by a subsidiary of Airbus SE weighing 75 kilograms had stayed in the stratosphere at an altitude of about 20 kilometers for 13 days, and enabled data communication with smartphones on the ground.
Compared to the Starlink satellite communication system provided by SpaceX, the range of services covered by a single high-altitude platform station is limited. But high-speed, high-capacity communication is possible with HAPS, which are close to the ground.
In Japan, the solar-powered, unmanned aircraft are expected to be introduced in the Kyushu region and further south, where power generation efficiency is high.
“We have received inquiries from defense, shipping, construction and other industries. The HAPS are meant to meet demand for remote monitoring and other corporate uses,” said NTT Docomo official Takehiro Nakamura.
In times of disaster
Recently, in addition to base stations and other terrestrial communication facilities, “non-terrestrial” communication networks such as those that use satellites and HAPS have been attracting attention. This is because transmitting radio waves from above the ground allows communication areas to be more efficiently expanded than building base stations on the ground.
On Tuesday, SpaceX’s David Goldman, who was among the speakers from companies and others related to non-terrestrial communications at MWC, praised the convenience of the technology. Goldman said his company will connect areas that have been unconnected. There are also high hopes for the use of the non-terrestrial communications in the event of communications disruptions caused by earthquakes and other disasters.
Rakuten Group, Inc. plans to launch a satellite-to-smartphone service in as early as 2026, using satellites from a U.S. startup it has been investing in, AST SpaceMobile, Inc.
Hiroshi Mikitani, chairperson and president of Rakuten Group, emphasized at MWC on Tuesday that providing telecommunications in disaster areas is becoming just as important as providing food and water.
However, there are issues that must be overcome before non-terrestrial communication systems can become widespread.
U.S. and European companies are ahead of Japanese firms in the field of Low Earth Orbit satellite systems, and it is difficult for Japanese firms to build a low-cost satellite communication network alone. Since unmanned HAPS are affected by rain, strong winds and other climate conditions, their power generation efficiency also needs to be improved to allow them to stay in the air for a longer period.