A new wave of partnerships between telcos and satellite/non-terrestrial network (NTN) players is reshaping the connectivity landscape, but the market remains far from mature, analyst house STL Partners has reported in its satellite tracker report Skywatch.
STL Partners’ analysis of 74 announcements since January 2024 reveals a striking trend: only 20 per cent of the collaborations between telcos and satellite/NTN operators have reached a beta or commercial launch. The majority remain in early-stage partnerships (41 per cent) or proof-of-concept (PoC)/trial (24 per cent) phase, underlining just how nascent most initiatives still are.
Despite the slow march to commercialisation, a growing urgency is emerging for telcos: LEO players are the ‘new kids in town’ that telcos cannot afford to ignore. These operators are rapidly becoming both essential partners and potential competitors. With Starlink leading in active D2D deployments and constellation scale, challengers such as Skylo, AST SpaceMobile and Lynk Global are securing high-profile telco tie-ups. Telcos that fail to act quickly risk losing ground in the race for global, seamless connectivity.
Verizon and Telefónica are the most active telcos in forming satellite/NTN collaborations since early 2024, closely followed by China Mobile, T-Mobile and NTT Docomo. The geographical distribution of the announcements as currently reflected in our tracker indicates that the APAC region is leading the way (45 per cent of our entries), followed by North America and Europe (19 per cent each).
“The collaborations between telcos and satellite/NTN players are driven by commercial rather than geopolitical interests, in particular when what is delivered through the partnerships relates to non-critical services to the consumer – as in the small but increasing number of direct-to-device (D2D) arrangements. Once the challenges of integration are overcome and customer experience is guaranteed for D2D, the main consideration for the telco is how far the new offering enhances its portfolio and brand, and whether those benefits offset the associated costs,” commented David Martin, senior analyst and telco cloud lead at STL Partners
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