Eutelsat succeeds in world's first 5G network trial from space with Airbus, MediaTek

MEDIATEK

24/02/2025 10:39

Feb 24 (Reuters) - French satellite service provider
Eutelsat  ETL.PA  has successfully carried out the world's first
trial of 5G Non-Terrestrial Network connection using OneWeb's
low Earth orbit (LEO) satellites, it said on Monday, sending its
shares 9% higher.
    
    WHY IT'S IMPORTANT
    European telecom and space firms are ramping up efforts to
expand internet networks with satellite investments at the core
of the European Commission's 10.6 billion euro ($11.1 billion)
IRIS² programme.
    5G Non-Terrestrial Networks (NTN), which improve and provide
wireless coverage to remote locations directly from space, are
one of the projects developed as part of the IRIS²
constellation.
    IRIS² will feature 270 LEOs and 18 medium Earth orbit
satellites (MEO). The constellation is scheduled to be fully
operational in 2030.
    
    MARKET REACTION
    Eutelsat's shares, which rose as much as 10.5% earlier in
the session, were on track for their largest single-day rise in
over three years as of 1036 GMT.
    Shares of the Paris-listed company have dropped around 66%
in the past year, leading to its exclusion from France's SBF 120
index of Paris' most traded stocks in 2024.
    
    WHAT'S NEXT
    OneWeb's satellites were built by Airbus  AIR.PA  and used
chipsets from Taiwan's MediaTek  2454.TW  and equipment from
Sharp  6753.T  and Rohde & Schwarz to conduct the trial,
Eutelsat said.
    The deployment of 5G NTN is expected to lower the cost of
internet access and expand satellite broadband for 5G devices,
it added.
    
    CONTEXT
    Eutelsat is one of the main satellite operators selected by
the European Union for the IRIS² programme.
    The Franco-British group is piling up losses from its
traditional geostationary (GEO) constellation travelling further
from Earth, as cheaper and smaller LEO fleets like the one owned
by Starlink surge in popularity.

($1 = 0.9550 euros)

 (Reporting by Gianluca Lo Nostro in Gdansk; Editing by Milla
Nissi)
 ((gianluca.lonostro@thomsonreuters.com;))