Amazon plans to enter the UK internet market with a satellite broadband service
Amazon plans to provide satellite internet in the UK within the next two years. The company is preparing to launch a group of spacecraft that could eventually deliver mobile phone signals to even the most remote areas.
Founded by Jeff Bezos, Amazon wants to use British radio frequencies within the next year or two to offer this satellite internet service, according to a report by the Sunday Telegraph.
Many companies are working to send their own groups of small satellites into low-Earth orbit. These satellites, which are less than 1,000 km (620 miles) from Earth, can provide constant coverage without the delays that happen with geostationary satellites, which are much farther away at 35,000 km.
Amazon’s Project Kuiper is planning to launch 3,000 small satellites to compete with Starlink, which is a satellite internet service from Elon Musk’s SpaceX.
Starlink already has 6,000 satellites in space and serves 4 million customers worldwide. Its service is also used a lot in Ukraine.
Like Starlink, Kuiper will use small terminals for internet access at first. However, Kuiper has told the British regulator Ofcom that it is also looking into a way to connect smartphones directly to satellites.
Ofcom said that direct-to-device connections might be available to consumers by the end of this year, depending on a consultation in the next few months.
Amazon said that these direct-to-device services could offer a secure communication option for government, defense, and emergency services. The company asked Ofcom to allow satellite providers to use radio frequencies that are currently used for mobile services, as long as they can prove they won’t interfere with existing mobile networks.
Amazon had planned to launch its first commercial satellites by the end of last year, but this has been delayed to early this year, even though it launched its first prototypes in 2023.
Jeff Bezos’s rocket company, Blue Origin, is getting ready to launch a new reusable rocket called New Glenn, possibly this week. The rocket is named after John Glenn, the first American to orbit Earth. This launch will put Blue Origin in competition with SpaceX. SpaceX’s reusable Falcon 9 rocket has changed the space industry by greatly reducing costs.
Published: 6th January 2025
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