ENGLEWOOD, CO – U.S. satellite provider Dish is developing of mobile handsets and devices that can operate in both terrestrial and satellite modes in the 2 GHz/AWS-4 band.
Dish said Monday that it is working to enable support of satellite-based communications in Qualcomm’s Snapdragon S4 MSM8960 platform, the world’s first dual-core solution with an integrated multi-mode 3G/LTE modem, for use in future Dish wireless devices. The new satellite air interface technology developed by Qualcomm is a 3G-based standard referred to as Enhanced Geostationary Air Link (EGAL).
EVP Tom Cullen said that the move will allow the company to provide “specialized markets”, including first-responders, disaster relief, and consumers in remote locations, with satellite communications capability.
“The tailoring of this chipset to allow both modes of operation will give Dish the ability to support truly ubiquitous connectivity across the nation”, he said. “Dish is committed to moving as rapidly as possible to bring additional wireless broadband to a spectrum-starved market.”
