Bharti Airtel and SoftBank Mobile conducted cost-efficient 3G trials in Kenya.
This technology — developed earlier by SoftBank Mobile of Japan — offers 3G mobile services using a communications satellite as a transmission line, Airtel said on Thursday.
Recently, these two telecom operators conducted a field trial in actual environments in Kenya.
Airtel and SoftBank Mobile validated technologies and methods to offer communications services using a communications satellite in rural areas at a low cost.
In March 2011, during the Great East Japan Earthquake, SoftBank Mobile utilized communications satellite technology to rebuild mobile networks in out-of-range areas by operating over 300 satellite base stations.
This technology — developed by SoftBank — will enable 3G mobile phone service in remote locations where transmission lines cannot usually reach while achieving drastic reductions in transmission line costs.
“This technology is important to the development of mobile networks in rural areas in Africa and other areas where commercialization of such operations is challenging,” said Bayan Monadjem, chief technical officer of Bharti Airtel Africa.
