Japan plans to deploy a network of flying 5G mobile communication stations powered by solar energy
The Japanese telecommunications industry plans to deploy flying base stations in 2025. This technology, called High Altitude Platform Stations (HAPS), is aimed at providing wide network coverage using unmanned vehicles flying in the stratosphere.
There are more than five billion Internet users in the world. However, Internet penetration remains low in some parts of Africa, where only 24% of the population has access to the Internet. The difficulty of installing base stations in remote locations is one of the reasons for the low coverage that HAPS is striving to overcome.
Depending on the topography, the range of the ground station is 3-10 km. A large number of base stations are needed to ensure the wide availability of Internet services.
The Japanese company NTT positions HAPS as a new generation of this problem. Just as Elon Musk’s Starlink provides space-based Internet services, HAPS can provide mobile services using solar-powered aircraft flying at an altitude of 18-25 km. The range of one such module is expected to be 200 km.
The Japanese company plans to offer aircraft, telecommunications equipment, and operational control tools in one package, which will simplify their deployment.
Japan has proposed adopting four frequency bands as international standards for airborne flying stations, which opens the way for the uniform spread of this technology around the world. According to the proposal, the 1.7 GHz, 2 GHz and 2.6 GHz frequencies will be used worldwide for flying base stations.
In addition, the 700 to 900 megahertz frequency band, which is used to improve mobile services in Europe, America, Africa and parts of Asia, has also been approved for use with flying base stations.
Softbank Corp’s telecommunications group has already demonstrated this technology by providing 5G connectivity between Rwanda and Japan. Another Japanese telecommunications company, NTT, has teamed up with the satellite TV company Sky Perfect JSAT to offer HAPS-based services starting in 2025.
