Vodafone collaborates with Amazon's Project Kuiper to increase 5G coverage

Vodafone will collaborate with Amazon's Project Kuiper low-Earth orbit satellite constellation to expand the reach of its 4G and 5G telecom networks in Europe and Africa.

The British mobile operator stated that high-bandwidth, low-latency satellites from Project Kuiper would be used to link mobile base stations in remote locations to its core networks, doing away with the need for fixed wireless or fiber-based connections.

Before beginning to deploy production satellites in 2024 for its network, which will compete with Elon Musk's Starlink, OneWeb, and other providers, Amazon is getting ready to test two prototype satellites in the upcoming months.

The high-speed broadband services offered by Project Kuiper will be expanded to underserved communities around the world, according to a joint statement from Vodafone and Amazon. The companies will also provide services to businesses, such as backup connections.

The alliance will help both companies' customers "get the most value from expanded connectivity," according to Dave Limp, the senior vice president for products and services at Amazon.com, in particular in sectors like agriculture, education, healthcare, residential broadband, transportation, and financial services.

The partnership, according to Vodafone CEO Margherita Della Valle, will support the British company's ongoing work with AST SpaceMobile to create a space-based mobile network that would connect with regular mobile phones without the use of specialized hardware.

In order to offer internet connections to customers in rural and remote areas, Telefonica announced last month that it had partnered with Starlink.