Rakuten Mobile obtained preliminary experimental test station licenses in Japan to conduct mobile communication tests and preliminary verification using AST SpaceMobile’s low earth orbit satellite, BlueWalker 3.
AST SpaceMobile is building a space-based cellular broadband network accessible directly by standard unmodified mobile phones. The company's BlueWalker 3 test satellite launched from the USA on September 11, 2022. On November 14, AST SpaceMobile also announced the successful deployment of the communications array for its test satellite, BlueWalker 3, in orbit.
In order to conduct communication tests between the test satellite launched by AST SpaceMobile and gateway earth stations in Japan and to perform preliminary verification with smartphones, Rakuten Mobile made applications to the Tohoku Telecommunications Bureau for a Gateway Experimental Test Station license (equivalent to a mobile base station) and to the Kanto Telecommunications Bureau for a Mobile Terminal Experimental Test Station license (equivalent to a portable mobile base station), and both applications have now been approved.
Rakuten Mobile plans to build a gateway earth station (equivalent to a mobile base station) in Fukushima Prefecture to test and verify direct communication between BlueWalker 3 and mobile devices in mountainous areas in Hokkaido.
To enable testing with Rakuten Mobile and other carriers, Rakuten Symphony will provide a variety of software from its Symworld product portfolio to AST SpaceMobile to be integrated into the company’s satellite system and enable the company’s space-based cellular broadband network. The software to be integrated includes Rakuten Symphony’s vRAN (virtualized Radio Access Network) software, OSS (Operations Support Systems) and BSS (Business Support Systems) software.
https://corp.mobile.rakuten.co.jp/english/news/press/2022/1118_01/
