Internet via satellite, experimentation begins in Lombardy

Starts from Lombardy testing hybrid satellite-terrestrial network solutions for coverage a ultra-long band of areas with difficult connectivity. It will be published in the next few days (initially scheduled for today, it was postponed following the entry into force of the corrective to the procurement code on 31/12) through the “Sintel” online platform, a tender of 6.5 million euros by Aria spa, (the regional company for innovation and purchasing), to which the Government and the Lombardy Region have given a mandate.

Aria must also select the suppliers to whom the development of the trial will be entrusted; supervise the progress of the contracts, taking care of the infrastructure of the sites where the experimentation will be carried out and personally managing the activities for measuring the level of performance achieved. Among the participants, it would not be a surprise if the company was there Elon Musk’s Starlink.

In detail, the experiment provides for funding of 5 million euros, for the Department’s share, from the Fund for technological innovation and digitalisation, as well as, in part of the funding, from Lombardy Region Funds equal to 1 million and 500 thousand euros. The experiment aimed at testing the use of space-based networks for the provision of satellite backhauling capacity in synergy with terrestrial ones, explained a note, aims to develop integrated connectivity solutions, in order to evaluate their feasibility, costs and implementation times , sustainability, as well as measuring the achievable performances, with a view to considering their future large-scale application.