This week, Nokia and the Rural Wireless Association (RWA) co-hosted a webinar titled “Supplemental Coverage from Space: Extending Rural Connectivity,” bringing together Nokia engineers and satellite partnership leads to address how non-terrestrial networks (NTN) fit into the rural broadband landscape. The webinar’s primary message was that NTN is a complement to terrestrial networks, not a replacement.
Presenters walked through the current state of the NTN market, noting that while the technology is evolving rapidly, it remains in early stages. NTN primarily supports narrowband Internet of Things (IoT) applications and some LTE use cases, with 5G NTN still years away from commercial maturity.
The sharp decline in satellite launch costs — from roughly $100,000 per kilogram decades ago to a few thousand dollars today, with further reductions expected — is enabling the economies of scale that could make NTN more broadly viable over time.
The low Earth orbit (LEO) segment is drawing the most traction, offering a meaningful balance of low latency and broad coverage. LEO beams cover 50 to 100 kilometers, far larger than a terrestrial cell site, though with practical speeds currently running in the 14–20 Mbps range — well short of the 100/20 Mbps federal threshold.
Panelists were direct about what rural carriers should take from these satellite details. NTN won’t replace the need for towers or fiber in most cases, but it could make sense in truly remote areas where there simply isn’t a business case for infrastructure.
Presenters also noted that rural carriers have a real advantage with dedicated licensed spectrum — bands like CBRS — where they can offer reliable speeds and quality of service that satellite broadband currently cannot match.
Under current Federal Communications Commission (FCC) rules, accessing supplemental coverage from space (SCS) using existing terrestrial spectrum blocks requires holding that block nationwide. However, the FCC has added flexibility, allowing carriers to partner with others to collectively meet that requirement. That’s an important nuance for smaller rural providers who don’t hold nationwide licenses.
For mobile satellite service (MSS) spectrum, rural carriers would need a commercial agreement with a satellite provider rather than direct spectrum access.
Monetization and the path forward
Panelists identified both direct and indirect monetization opportunities for carriers that integrate NTN services, including subscription add-ons, day passes for subscribers who venture off-network, and churn reduction. The global direct-to-device market is projected to reach roughly $20 billion by 2031.
Closing recommendations for rural operators in the next six months included staying current on FCC policy developments, engaging in potential lobbying efforts if the nationwide spectrum requirement remains too restrictive, and evaluating satellite on a site-by-site basis rather than as a wholesale network strategy. One panelist said, “Satellite is not replacing you. It’s joining you.”
In SCS news, the FCC recently approved AST SpaceMobile to deploy up to 248 LEO satellites for SCS using 700 MHz and 800 MHz spectrum.
