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Japanese electronics giant Sharp has revealed that it’s developing a compact satellite terminal (dish / antenna) that will technically be able to connect to multiple different satellite communications networks, potentially including Starlink, OneWeb, SES and others. The goal is to make it easier for customers to switch between different networks as competition grows. Easier said than done.
The new terminal is being developed as part of Sharp’s proposal under a new project from Japan’s Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications (JMIAC), which has committed over £33 million to support up to three projects that can develop compact, lightweight universal antennas by 2030. Further details on Nikkei Asian.
The idea is a good one, although what most of the articles on this fail to consider is that a lot of satellite networks use various methods to lock you into using their own bespoke hardware (i.e. anybody building a third-party antenna is likely to need the support of the relevant satellite operators for it to work).