The HAPS Alliance Commends the GSMA for White Paper on HAPS Opportunities

GSMA White Paper ‘High Altitude Platform Systems: Towers in the Skies Version 2.0’ Promotes the Use of HAPS Technology to Enable Broadband Connectivity Worldwide.

Wakefield, Mass. – March 1, 2022 – The HAPS Alliance, an association of cross-industry players working to enable a High-Altitude Platform Station (HAPS) ecosystem, today issued the below statement commending the GSMA for the publication of its latest HAPS white paper titled ‘High Altitude Platform Systems: Towers in the Skies Version 2.0’. Developed in collaboration with supporting mobile network operators, platform providers and the HAPS Alliance, the GSMA white paper highlights the economic and technical boundary conditions needed to bring connectivity to areas that are either not covered or are only partially covered, by terrestrial cellular networks. The statement below was also recently published in the GSMA’s white paper companion blog titled High Altitude Platform System – A point of view from the mobile operators.

“The HAPS Alliance commends the GSMA for publishing this visionary research on ways HAPS technology and uses cases offer the potential to achieve universal cellular coverage for all. What’s more, the paper spotlights how available HAPS technology-based mobile networks and unmanned aircraft use cases could be economically and effectively implemented across geographies. The GSMA white paper will play an important role in how the HAPS Alliance drives forward advancements to the HAPS ecosystem. I would like to thank the HAPS Alliance members for all their contributions to this paper,” said HAPS Alliance President Ken Riordan.

By 2029, the HAPS market is expected to generate $4 billion in value due to market demand, research, and funding from various agencies, according to Northern Sky Research. However, to tap into the larger market opportunity and bridge the digital divide, HAPS Alliance members are developing solutions in the stratosphere that will need to operate in harsh thermal conditions, including temperatures as low as -90°C. HAPS Alliance member organizations are building a cooperative ecosystem and unlocking the potential of the stratosphere, filling a capability gap between terrestrial networks and satellites at 18-50 km above the surface of the earth.

HAPS Alliance Membership Benefits

All companies interested in the HAPS ecosystem are encouraged to become HAPS Alliance members. Alliance membership levels, Principal, General, and Supporter, are open to organizations across any business vertical. Members have the opportunity to become involved in various membership initiatives including working groups, member-only meetings, and collaboration with other HAPS Alliance members to work on technology components and use cases for enabling a smarter world.

About the HAPS Alliance

The HAPS Alliance is an industry association of High-Altitude Platform Station (HAPS) industry leaders that include telecommunications, technology, aviation, and aerospace companies, as well as public and educational institutions. United by a vision to address diverse social issues and create new value through the utilization of high-altitude vehicles in the stratosphere, the Alliance is working to accelerate the development and commercial adoption of HAPS technology by promoting and building industry-wide standards, interoperability guidelines and regulatory policies in both the telecommunication and aviation industries. For more information, please visit https://hapsalliance.org/

Media Contacts:

Jessie Hennion

HAPS Alliance Public Relations

+1 781-876-6280

[email protected]

Alexa Stewart

HAPS Alliance Public Relations

+1.781.876.6242

[email protected]