Telecommunications groups Vodafone and Vodacom are preparing to participate in Amazon’s beta testing of its low-Earth orbit satellite communications initiative Project Kuiper to leverage the satellite constellation to extend the reach of their fourth-generation (4G) and fifth-generation (5G) networks.

The collaboration will see Vodafone and Vodacom using Project Kuiper’s high-bandwidth, low-latency satellite network to reach more of their customers in Europe and Africa in areas that are challenging and prohibitively expensive to serve through traditional fibre or microwave solutions.

Amazon, which is preparing to test two prototype satellites in the next few months before starting to deploy production satellites in 2024, will start beta testing Project Kuiper services with selected customers by the end of 2024, with Vodafone and Vodacom participating in that testing through the collaboration.

“Collaborating with Project Kuiper gives us an exciting new path to scale our efforts, using Amazon’s satellite constellation to quickly reach more customers across the African continent,” says Vodacom Group CEO Shameel Joosub.

Vodafone, Vodacom and Project Kuiper will start deploying services in Africa and Europe as Amazon’s production satellites come online.

According to the parties, in a joint statement, Project Kuiper will connect geographically dispersed cellular antennas back to the companies’ core telecommunications networks, which will enable them to offer 4G and 5G services in more locations without the time and expense of building out fibre-based or fixed-wireless links back to the core networks.

As part of the collaboration, Amazon plans to partner with Vodafone to roll out Project Kuiper’s high-speed broadband services to unserved and underserved communities around the world.

The companies are also exploring additional enterprise-specific offerings to provide businesses with comprehensive global connectivity solutions, such as backup service for unexpected events and extending connectivity to remote infrastructure.

“Vodafone’s work with Project Kuiper will provide mobile connectivity to many of the estimated 40% of the global population without Internet access, supporting remote communities, their schools and businesses, emergency services and disaster relief,” says Vodafone Group CEO Margherita Della Valle, who notes that the connections will be complemented further through the group’s own work on direct-to-smartphone satellite services.

“Amazon is building Project Kuiper to provide fast, affordable broadband to tens of millions of customers in unserved and underserved communities, and our flexible network means we can connect places that have traditionally been difficult to reach,” adds Amazon senior VP for devices and services Dave Limp.

“Teaming with a leading international service provider like Vodafone allows us to make a bigger impact faster in closing the digital divide in Europe and Africa.”