Key Data

5G Non-Terrestrial Networks (NTN)

Last Updated - April 2026

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5G Non-Terrestrial Networks (NTN) Latest Key Data

Satellite-enabled mobile connectivity is moving from experiment to early commercial reality.

The number of operator partnerships, launched services and planned rollouts shows growing confidence in satellite-to-cellphone as a complement to terrestrial coverage, especially in hard-to-reach areas. More broadly, NTN is beginning to emerge as an important extension of the 5G ecosystem, not only for direct-to-device services but also for broadband and IoT connectivity models.

5G Non-Terrestrial Networks (NTN)

Key Industry Data – as of 20th April 2026

17 partnerships have launched satellite-to-cellphone services, as of March 2026. In February 2025, Virgin Media O2 launched a satellite service with Starlink. Kyivstar in Ukraine announced they have launched their service with Starlink in August 2025 and already has over 3 million connections. Orange in partnership with Skylo launched a service in France in December 2025.

97 operators are investing in satellite-to-cellphone Figure 10. connectivity and 8 available chipsets that are compatible with the technology.

There are currently 25 partnerships which are in the process of evaluating, testing or trialling the technology or have licences for it. A further 64 are planning to launch, including in Africa where Airtel is preparing to launch a service in all its 14 different markets.

A further 107 operators are investing in other forms of satellite connectivity, like Community and enterprise broadband and IoT/M2M, for example.

Figures

Figure 1

Figure 1

Countries and territories with satellite-to-cellphone partnerships, by status

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This page covers the top-level data for this topic, explore our GAMBoD databases for further data.

The six GAMBoD databases cover devices, spectrum assignments, public & private networks, chipsets and details on mobile operators globally. The databases are updated by our focused research team, monthly or quarterly, and summary and member industry reports are published based on this data.

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