Satellite D2D Will Cut Rural Tower Deployment in Half

New report shows economic options for rural wireless

CAMPBELL, Calif., May 15, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- Mobile Experts released a new report today, illustrating the economic rationale for mobile operators to use Satellite Direct-to-Device services instead of building additional rural towers. In this new report, the satellite constellations are explained in detail, with thoughtful analysis that illustrates how the business models will evolve to serve consumer and enterprise customers in hard-to-reach areas.

Starlink, Globalstar, AST SpaceMobile, Skylo, Lynk, Omnispace, Oneweb, Iridium, Kuiper, SES, MSSA, Intelsat, Eutelsat, and Space42 are all considered in terms of coverage, launch costs, and business model relationships.   Both Geostationary (GEO) and Low Earth Orbit (LEO) satellites are considered for various direct-to-device services, and the strengths of each constellation for services ranging from IoT bursts to texting, voice, and streaming data are considered thoroughly.

Finally, economic analysis of the cost per square kilometer of coverage—compared with cost per GB of capacity—is provided to give the reader a clear picture of where D2D services will be used, and which applications will be suited to each wireless architecture.

The new Mobile Experts report shows a detailed five-year forecast of the future of the mobile network market, with surprising trends as Private Cellular, Open RAN, and Virtual RAN rise in prominence.    Software for RAN optimization, including AI/ML software upgrades, are highlighted in particular as a strong revenue growth area.

To see the Table of Contents for this report, click here:

Subscribers to Satellite Direct to Device 2025 will receive:

• Full access to 35-page written analysis;
• Clear insights on the economic role of D2D in terms of Cost per GB served;
• More clear insights in terms of Cost per square kilometer served;
• Conclusions regarding the change in rural and remote tower deployment; and
• Access to the analysts behind the reports.

To learn more about Mobile Experts research, click here.

About Mobile Experts Inc.:
Mobile Experts techno-market analysis is used by more than 150 suppliers in the mobile/wireless industry, as well as multiple mobile operators, hyperscalers, and managed service providers.     MEXP was the only analyst firm to correctly predict the failure of femtocells and the use of small cells for capacity in 2011, and was the only firm to predict the rise of 5G FWA as early as 2015.    

Mobile Experts combines a deep-dive technical approach with hard-nosed economic analysis to predict the long-term future of the mobile industry.   Recent publications focus on Macro and Massive MIMO Base Stations, Industrial Private Cellular, Virtual RAN, AI impact on RAN Capacity, Small Cells, Edge Computing,  and more. 

Contact:
Rachel Winningham
[email protected] 
+1 (408) 374-0690
www.mobile-experts.net  

SOURCE Mobile Experts Inc