Amazon’s bold satellite tv for pc enterprise, known as Kuiper, is teaming up with Verizon to additional develop 4G/LTE and 5G protection to distant areas of the globe. Through the brand new partnership, Kuiper’s future satellites may present connectivity to future Verizon cell towers that don’t require as a lot expensive infrastructure to construct.

Kuiper is Amazon’s $10 billion initiative to launch a constellation of three,236 satellites in low Earth orbit to supply broadband web protection to the Earth beneath. With satellites flying at altitudes between 366 miles and 391 miles excessive (or 590 kilometers and 630 kilometers up), the plan is to supply connectivity to distant and rural areas, the place it’s troublesome to supply web protection by conventional fiber. During prototype testing, Kuiper claims its system can produce throughput speeds of as much as 400 Mbps.

Amazon is partnering with Verizon to make use of Kuiper for satellite-based mobile backhaul, permitting (in principle) for Verizon to develop entry to its 4G and 5G networks to extra rural and distant places with out having to put cables for extra conventional connectivity strategies. Instead, Verizon would be capable to construct 4G and 5G towers in rural and hard-to-reach areas with out digging trenches to put fiber cables — one thing that’s each troublesome and typically cost-prohibitive. By eradicating the necessity to lay fiber and cable in these distant areas, the deal may develop Verizon’s attain in areas that endure from low mobile connectivity.

“There are billions of people without reliable broadband access, and no single company will close the digital divide on its own,” Andy Jassy, Amazon’s CEO, mentioned in an announcement. “Verizon is a leader in wireless technology and infrastructure, and we’re proud to be working together to explore bringing fast, reliable broadband to the customers and communities who need it most.” Kuiper declined to say how a lot Verizon is paying for this service.

Such a actuality continues to be fairly a methods off, although. Amazon’s Kuiper has but to launch any satellites. As a part of its launch license with the Federal Communications Commission, Kuiper should launch at the least half of all of its satellites, or 1,618 spacecraft, by 2026. In April, Kuiper introduced that it had bought 9 launches of the United Launch Alliance’s Atlas V rocket to ship its first batch of satellites to orbit.

Kuiper’s a proposed competitor to SpaceX’s Starlink venture, which goals to supply the identical sort of protection, besides with roughly 12,000 satellites as a substitute. So far, SpaceX has launched greater than 1,700 Starlink satellites into orbit round Earth and has even allowed customers to check out particular person connectivity by a beta program. SpaceX CEO Elon Musk mentioned that Starlink would part out of beta in October, however there has not been an official replace on that.

Both Starlink and Kuiper depend on particular person clients shopping for private dish antennas, so as to get connectivity from the satellites orbiting above them. Last 12 months, Kuiper revealed the design of its 12-inch-wide dish, which is roughly half the dimensions of Starlink’s dish (although SpaceX lately requested a new license from the FCC for a smaller next-generation antenna).

Starlink and Kuiper aren’t the one firms hoping to supply broadband web entry with low-flying satellites. Another firm OneWeb has already launched 358 satellites of a proposed 648-satellite constellation. Meanwhile, one other smaller firm, Telesat, additionally plans to launch a constellation of practically 300 satellites.

Chaim Gartenberg contributed to this report.