On December 1, KDDI began operating a base station using SpaceX’s (Space Exploration Technologies) Starlink satellite communication service as a backhaul line for its au communication network at Hatsushima, Atami, Shizuoka Prefecture. The company has announced “Starlink Business,” which provides Starlink communication services to corporations and municipalities, and while this business enables Wi-Fi and wired LAN to be used in small spots, this initiative is designed to operate as a single base station that makes up the au cell phone network. This initiative is to operate as one of the base stations that make up au’s mobile phone network. Optical fiber is used for backhaul lines in general base stations, but in some places, such as remote islands and mountainous areas, it is difficult to install optical fiber. The company has been operating base stations in such locations using radio entrances and geostationary orbiting satellites, and now it will add the use of Starlink satellites flying in low orbit (550 km altitude). According to the company, Starlink satellites are closer to the earth’s surface than geostationary orbit satellites, enabling significantly lower latency and faster transmission speeds. The company has named this Starlink base station solution “Satellite Mobile Link” and will offer it together with “Starlink Business” to corporations and municipalities that wish to use it on a monthly basis.
The first Starlink base station was installed on Hatsushima Island, and a ceremony was held a little after noon on December 1, with SpaceX President Makoto Takahashi and SpaceX Vice President of Starlink Commercial Sales Jonathan Hofeller turning on the base station. Makoto Takahashi, President and CEO of SpaceX, and Jonathan Hofeller, Vice President of Starlink Commercial Sales of SpaceX, turned on the base station at a ceremony held just after noon on December 1. During the ceremony, the iPhone, which had been out of range before the base station was activated, was switched to flight mode, and when flight mode was turned off, an antenna pictogram with a 4G indication and good signal sensitivity was shown. In his speech just before the ceremony, Mr. Takahashi revealed that Starlink base stations are actually glimpsed in the commercial for the collaboration with the movie “Suzume no Domekomari,” which the company supports. The company also reiterated its intention to work toward achieving its goal of “eliminating disconnections wherever you are in Japan. After the Starlink base station went live, an iPhone was placed in front of Mr. Takahashi, and he was shown communicating via videophone with Nanoha Hara, who voices Suzume Iwato, the main character in “Suzume no Domekomari,” as well as a video message from director Makoto Shinkai, congratulating him.
© Source travel watch
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