Proactive Investors - Vodafone Group PLC (LON:VOD) is working with Amazon.com Inc (NASDAQ:AMZN) on a plan that could see broadband internet rolled out to regional areas via satellites as early as next year.
As part of its Project Kuiper low Earth orbit (LEO) satellite constellation, Amazon aims to begin field trials for satellites similar to those providing services under Elon Musk's Starlink and the UK government-backed OneWeb.
Both Vodafone in Europe and Vodacom, its African arm, plan to use the LEO satellites to extend the reach of their 4G and 5G networks in both continents and potentially spend less than on the roll-out of fibre-based or fixed wireless networks.
The company said using Project Kuiper would bring connectivity "to areas that may otherwise be challenging and prohibitively expensive to serve via traditional fibre or microwave solutions".
Based on previous announcements, Project Kuiper’s satellite internet service expects to provide service to its first "select customers" by the end of 2024.
The launch of its first two prototype satellites, Kuipersat-1 and Kuipersat-2, was due to occur in May but was delayed due to rocket issues.
The first two Kuiper satellites are scheduled to be taken into space by a United Launch Alliance (ULA) Atlas 5 rocket later in September or October.
Thousands of satellites are required for the services to provide promised coverage, a process that is expected to take several years.
Margherita Della Valle, Vodafone's chief executive, said teaming up with the US company "will provide mobile connectivity to many of the estimated 40% of the global population without internet access".