Intelsat has launched Intelsat CellBackhaul, an end-to-end managed service that will help Mobile Network Operators (MNOs) provide national, cost-efficient and rapid 4G and 5G broadband coverage, the company reported on Thursday. 

“Our service will enable our U.S. mobile network operators to quickly and cost-effectively expand their coverage and bring connectivity into unserved and underserved areas, including many previously considered unreachable or unprofitable,” said Intelsat Director of Product Management for Networks, Gerry Collins.

Intelsat will enable MNOs to offer mobile broadband coverage, including connecting more subscribers, land areas, roadways and IoT devices. MNOs can utilize Intelsat CellBackhaul for network densification and backup coverage to ensure connectivity. 

The company’s CellBackhaul will provide all of the elements an MNO will require for cellular-backhaul purposes, including network-design consultation, connectivity from the MNO's cell sites to their core network over Intelsat's high-performance integrated space and ground network and 24×7 network-operations support. 

Additionally, the company will offer satellite antenna and modem, plus additional equipment installation and maintenance options and guaranteed Service Level Agreements (SLAs). As the U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC) moves forward with its planned $9 billion 5G Rural Fund,  67 percent of the U.S. landmass could be eligible for funds to bring 5G into rural communities.

Intelsat will support connectivity needs of American farms and ranches, offering new opportunities to MNOs. Intelsat has projected to roll out the Intelsat CellBackhaul service to mobile operators in additional regions, including Africa, in late 2020. 

“We innovate to help our customers connect more people, places, and devices they otherwise would not be able to connect, and we do that on a global scale,” added Collins. 

About Intelsat

As the foundational architects of satellite technology, Intelsat operates the world’s largest and most advanced satellite fleet and connectivity infrastructure. We apply our unparalleled expertise and global scale to connect people, businesses, and communities, no matter how difficult the challenge. 

Intelsat is uniquely positioned to help our customers turn possibilities into reality – transformation happens when businesses, governments, and communities use Intelsat's next-generation global network and managed services to build their connected future.

Suzette Kent, federal chief information officer and a 2020 Wash100 Award recipient, said there has been an expanded use of digital tools as more federal employees telework due to the coronavirus pandemic and that agencies can now begin to reassess their physical requirements, Federal Times reported Thursday.

“That gives us real data and real feedback — not ‘what if’ scenarios. Federal teams can now reconsider what their physical footprint needs to look like," she said Thursday during a keynote at the virtual Adobe Digital Government Symposium. "But more importantly for all of us, what continued investments we need in our technical infrastructure and what our future road map looks like of digital capabilities.”

Kent said several government agencies have 95 percent of their employees teleworking due to the COVID-19 pandemic, a move that has resulted in an increased use of digital signatures. She added that working from home has not led to a drop in productivity at several agencies.

“In the future it will be mandatory to have a workforce that is technology-enabled, constantly connected and where human interactions can occur potentially without human contact,” she noted.

The Defense Logistics Agency (DLA) is automating data to determine the overall supply and demand of personal protective equipment needed by the Department of Defense (DoD) and other federal entities. DLA said Wednesday that it reports PPE supply data on a daily basis for use with the DoD-made Advana digital analytics platform amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

“Open reporting on orders, shipments, back orders and expected delivery dates lets leaders know whether there’s enough material on hand to meet requirements for the next 30 to 60 days,” Sean Ahrens, chief of DLA's Metrics Integration Branch.

He also said that decision-makers may use the reports to inform order adjustments. This approach began in April and has now grown combatant commands, all service branches, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) track supplies.

“For example, DOD has some availability of N95 respirators, and we were able to issue 20 million to HHS and FEMA to support the national effort,” Dalphonse added.

DLA plans to use this same data approach for possible disasters in the future.

NASA has unveiled a space observatory that will work to address questions in infrared astrophysics, exoplanets and dark energy.

Formerly known as the Wide Field Infrared Survey Telescope, the Grace Roman Space Telescope features a wide-field tool and a coronagraph that will allow spectroscopy and high-contrast imaging of individual exoplanets, the agency said Wednesday.

NASA is slated to conduct hardware development and a series of tests for the telescope following the completion of programmatic and technical reviews in February. A team will develop engineering models and test units in efforts to validate the observatory's capacity to operate under austere conditions.

The agency named the telescope after Nancy Grace Roman, a former chief of astronomy and relativity in the Office of Space Science.

The Department of Energy has selected the University of Texas-San Antonio to manage and operate a consortium that would focus on cybersecurity in the manufacturing industry.

The Cybersecurity Manufacturing Innovation Institute or CyManII will support cybersecurity research and development to better protect supply chain networks and automation systems, DOE said Wednesday.

The public-private consortium will tackle early-stage projects and workforce development efforts to boost the country's manufacturing energy efficiency via cybersecurity.

“Through the CyManII, DOE will leverage the capabilities of the Idaho, Oak Ridge and Sandia National Laboratories across the applied energy, science and national security mission space to develop innovative cybersecurity technologies and strategies to minimize risk and accelerate energy efficiency across manufacturing supply chains," said Mark Menezes, undersecretary of energy.

CyManII will consist of DOE laboratories and participants from industry and academia in the U.S.