The extension of cellular networks via satellite: a key element to boost connectivity in Latin America

Today converted into a window to the Information Society, the rise of these devices with 4G technology has allowed the emergence of countless applications that require much greater consumption of bandwidth. This fact, together with the strategy adopted by many governments to extend cellular networks in the most remote and dispersed areas to reduce their digital divide, often encounters the obstacle that high-capacity terrestrial networks, such as fiber optics, cannot be deployed in an optimal way in terms of cost or immediacy.

However, satellite is an efficient solution to extend these networks, connecting base stations without having to resort to costly investments in terrestrial infrastructure. In this way, thanks to a satellite connection, remote areas can be connected to the global mobile network, thus optimizing economic investment and achieving the capillarity that this type of communications requires so that they have essential universal access, regardless of whether the user live in Mexico City or in a remote town in the state of Hidalgo.

This movement does not end here. The spread of 4G technology will be followed by the arrival of 5G, which predicts growth in demand for these backhaul services. Therefore, the demand for this type of satellite services will continue to increase in regions such as Latin America, with large areas, dispersed locations, orographic difficulties and less development of terrestrial communication infrastructures. Specifically, market studies predict that the demand for geostationary satellite capacity for backhaul services in the region will increase by 21% in the period 2018-2028. Currently, at HISPASAT we offer connectivity to more than 2,500 base stations, distributed in Mexico, the United States, Brazil, Peru, Ecuador, Chile, Argentina and Colombia. We are very proud to be able to offer this service through our fleet of satellites to extend connectivity economically, efficiently and with rapid deployment in those places where terrestrial technologies cannot reach.