Vodafone to work with Amazon’s low Earth orbit satellite constellation Project Kuiper to increase the reach of its 4G and 5G telecoms networks in Europe and Africa.

The mobile operator said Project Kuiper’s high-bandwidth and low-latency satellites will be used to connect mobile base stations in remote locations to its core networks and eliminate the need for fibre-based or fixed wireless links.

Amazon is preparing to test two prototype satellites in a few months before commencing the deployment of production satellites in 2024 for its network.

Amazon’s network will compete with Elon Musk’s Starlink, OneWeb, and others.

Dave Limp, Amazon’s senior vice president for devices and services, said the partnership with Vodafone will help the customers of both the companies get value from expanded connectivity.

The CEO of Vodafone, Della Valle, said the tie-up would help the company’s existing work with AST SpaceMobile for the development of a space-based mobile network that can connect directly with standard mobiles without the need for specialised equipment.