Satellite and NTN summit

2026 is go time for commercialisation in the satellite space, particularly in D2D through a range of telco-satellite go to market models. This reflects growing ecosystem maturity and pragmatism among operators of the value of satellite in bridging coverage gaps while targeting new (potentially higher) revenue streams. Starlink has established a strong 1st mover advantage, but this is a long game. AST has large ambitions while Amazon’s planned acquisition of Globalstar and, in a related context, Viasat and Space42’s formation of Equatys, speaks to the consolidation momentum in pursuit of faster routes to scale. There is then a long line of other competitors and constellations – some broad and some focussed on niches like IoT – that promise even an increasingly vibrant market dynamic. Activity has also expanded to the handset and chipset sectors to integrate NTN compatibility with their own designs – presenting an order of magnitude increase in the addressable customer base for satellite-enabled services. The satellite-enabled market targets 500-600m people who are out of coverage (7% of global population), a further 300m who are on the edge of coverage, and 2-3 billion IoT devices. 

Telcos in China (and Asia more broadly) are no different, with the region home to the largest number of satellite partnerships with operators at over 45 as of March 2026. China’s satellite scale is immense: the country has at least four constellation projects, which together amount to a planned 38,000 satellites in orbit. The connectivity extension targets new subscribers, better coverage for existing ones, seamless roaming, and service availability for businesses in hard to reach areas or those that carry transient assets like logistics and precision agriculture using drones.

Join us in this new Summit as we explore: 

• The top strategic priorities and emerging potential of satellite networks to revolutionize global connectivity via integration with mobile networks (4G and 5G)
• Revenue strategies across consumer and B2B/IoT segments
• The impact of satellite on sovereign data requirements
• Consolidation and anticipated changes to market structure
• Technological advances at the satellite, chipset and device level, and the impact of 3GPP release 18
• Trade-offs between different spectrum and regulatory approaches