In remote areas of the UK, Virgin Media O2 has demonstrated its satellite services based on Starlink, and looks forward to making some significant improvements in the future.
The Snowdonia region of North Wales is covered with “not-spots” – areas that are still not covered by the standard mobile signals provided by ground-based base stations. This has provided one of the UK’s three major mobile operators, Virgin Media O2 ( VMO2 ), with an ideal location to demonstrate its satellite backup service, which was launched earlier this year, to a small group of analysts and journalists.
For just an additional £3 (4 USD) per month, any user of a modern smartphone who is outside the coverage range of base stations can switch to O2 Satellite. This service stems from an agreement reached between the operator and Starlink last year at this time. Starlink is a satellite service division of SpaceX under Elon Musk. Through a technology known as Direct Connect Devices (direct-to-device, D2D) or Direct Connect Phones (direct-to-cellular, D2C), the signal is not transmitted by local base stations but is sent directly from space to the phones. Specifically, it comes from a satellite named Starlink that orbits the Earth at an altitude of about 350 kilometers and at a speed of approximately 17,500 miles per hour.
In the small town of Canafin, shrouded in gloomy winds, light rain, and thin fog, the brave satellite exploration team's first challenge was to find a “not-spot”. In many ways, this was a good problem for VMO2. Most of the competitive terrestrial mobile services provided by EE under BT were unusable, yet the signal from VMO2 stubbornly refused to disappear, just like an annoying guest who refuses to leave a party. Until it actually disappeared, the default settings meant that satellite services could not be activated.
However, the team eventually found a suitable " not-spot " while hiking towards Aber Falls. Later that day, after some initial setbacks that may have been related to the weather, a satellite connection was successfully established with the " Rob Joyce " of VMO2. The words " SAT " appeared on the device screen, replacing the usual "4G" or "5G" that users see when there is a cellular network. Subsequently, text messages were sent, and voice calls over the internet were also successfully made.
Achieving this on the slopes of the Welsh mountains should not be underestimated in its significance. There was a time when satellite technology required users to carry phones the size of bricks, with antennas as thin as fencing blades. Today, thanks to the continuous innovation of D2D / D2C, coupled with Musk and other companies' investments in a new generation of low Earth orbit LEO satellites, users of iPhone and Android phones can stay in touch for the price of an ice cream, even in the most remote areas. Only the most nitpicky would argue that it's not worth it.
However, this demonstration also highlights the current limitations of satellite technology. VMO2, the Director of Mobile Access Projects, Rob Joyce stated that currently only about 650 Starlink satellites support D2D services. The orbital paths mean that in North Wales, there is not always a satellite directly above one's head, resulting in coverage gaps.
If hikers expect to catch up on the latest episode of “The Traitors” at the foot of the Aber Falls mountain, they will be disappointed. Of course, VMO2 does not promote O2 Satellite in this way, but Starlink is currently limited to supporting basic data services only. SMS and even internet-based voice calls are possible, but regular voice calls are not supported, let alone video streaming. In the introduction before the hike, it is stated: “It currently does not support native voice calls, so it is purely a data service. Clearly, it is not intended for high-bandwidth applications at this time. Its function is to provide coverage outside of the current cellular network range.”
To support this service, VMO2 is making available 5MHz of spectrum in the 1800MHz band to be shared between cellular networks and satellites, in order to provide 4G connectivity through Starlink. Joyce believes that users should be able to enjoy a speed of approximately 4 Mbit /s. “We estimate that each spot beam has a capacity of 4 Mbit /s, and there are about 50 such satellites spot beam,” he said, explaining that the diameter of each spot beam is about 50 kilometers. “That means there is a capacity of 4 Mbit /s within a 50-kilometer diameter range. Therefore, it depends on how many O2 Satellite subscribers there are; they will share this capacity accordingly.” He admitted that if everyone wants to watch the World Cup live broadcast at the same time, there will be issues.
Of course, the goal of VMO2 is to increase land coverage. Thanks to the Shared Rural Network initiative jointly promoted by the UK and other telecommunications operators, the availability of VMO2's national terrestrial network has currently reached about 89%. The agreement with Starlink has increased this figure to 95%, and these additional 6 percentage points correspond to approximately two-thirds of the area of Wales.
The technical roadmap of Starlink should also bring improvements to VMO2. This includes the 14MHz of spectrum in the 800MHz band that Musk recently acquired in the United States. “If they want to build satellites that support 800MHz, we can use that 800MHz when they fly over Europe,” said Joyce, and pointed out that VMO2 itself also has a 10MHz allocation in that band, as well as spectrum in adjacent bands.
Today's services are run on the Starlink first-generation D2D technology, relying on a constellation that is relatively small, with only 650 satellites. Joyce indicates that with the launch of the new generation of satellites and a significant increase in the total number of satellites to about 15,000, it will bring "much more bandwidth" to VMO2 and other customers. "The capacity will increase by 20 times, or even 100 times, depending on how much spectrum we deploy," he said. By then, people who live on hillsides outside of cellular network coverage will be able to stream movies and make voice calls.
Despite optimism about the capabilities satellites will bring to rural areas in the late 2020s, Joyce insists it will never be a complete replacement for cellular networks. "The reason is simple—it's difficult to get a signal into this room from 10 kilometers away, and that's with the signal going through windows and drywall," Joyce said in the canteen of Celtic Royal Hotel. "If you're 350 kilometers away, and the signal has to go through a tiled roof, aluminum foil reflectors, and three floors, it's simply impossible to get a signal inside."
The second-generation Starlink satellites will increase the number of spot and beam, and reduce the diameter of spot and beam to about 25 kilometers. However, Joyce believes that this is still not sufficient to provide the capacity and coverage required for in-depth indoor use. "Will Elon challenge the cellular operators?" he asked, "No, he can't do it."
What is referred to here as "impossible" means that it is not feasible, whether through satellites or by building small base stations – this is the American plan proposed earlier this year by Starlink executives, which was later criticized by several experts. Nevertheless, this does not rule out the possibility that Musk may sign agreements with mobile virtual network operators (MVNO) in the future, allowing him to utilize the macro base stations that ground-based operators have already built. Regardless of the technology used, services with the Starlink brand could become a strong competitor in the United States.
Even so, Joyce believes that VMO2 might be able to avoid building new terrestrial sites in rural areas, and instead adopt Starlink as a more economical alternative. By the end of the 2020s, more people will have smartphones that support satellite connectivity, and VMO2 will also shut down its outdated 2G networks. By that time, replacing 2G with terrestrial 4G in these areas could be more costly than providing customers with more advanced satellite services.
"For humans, this is just a small text message, but for the O2 network, it represents a huge leap forward," Joyce sent this message to his boss – VMO2, the chief technology officer of Jeanie York – when he first started testing the Starlink service in November last year. Although there are still limitations at present, it can serve as a lifesaving backup option in certain scenarios, and it seems that it will only get better in the future.
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