Qualcomm Inc, the world's largest smartphone chipmaker, is in discussions with major satellite businesses, including Elon Musk's Starlink, on improvements needed in smartphone chipsets and software aspects to enable mobile satellite services on future Android devices. The San Diego-based chipmaker is investigating the viability of potential technology solutions such as narrow-band non-terrestrial networks (NTN), which could allow mobile devices to communicate with satellite systems and, as a result, provide fast wireless broadband connectivity to people who live outside the coverage area of terrestrial networks.

 

“A lot of activity is underway at Qualcomm on ways to reach people who are out of the terrestrial coverage area… we’re collaborating with companies like Starlink on potential solutions like narrow-band NTN, which is almost like doing 4G, but having it come from a satellite system instead of a 4G base station,” Chris Patrick, general manager of mobile handsets, Qualcomm Technologies Inc.

 

Qualcomm Technologies is the research and development arm of the US-based smartphone chipmaker. Patrick, though, said ringing in mobile satellite services via solutions like narrow-band NTN would require changes in a mobile phone’s chipset and software elements, even as the intent is to use satellite constellations and bind them closely with existing cellular infrastructure, as per economic times. 

 

“That’s where developments are underway at Qualcomm to build in the wireless satellite service functionality into the next wave of Android devices… but there’s a lot of work that has to be done on the device, and the jury’s still out on how these systems will function in real life,” he said.