PCCW Global, the international operating division of HKT, Hong Kong’s premier telecommunications service provider, and Beijing UniStrong Science and Technology Corporation Limited (UniStrong), a world leading spatial-temporal product and service provider, will collaborate in the rapidly growing field of Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) technologies, unlocking exciting new concepts and services especially suited to the telecommunications and aviation industries.
There are currently four global navigation satellite systems, namely BDS, GPS, GLONASS and Galileo, which are capable of providing global positioning, navigation, and timing (PNT) services. The collaboration between PCCW Global and UniStrong will extend the value of this technology further, linking satellite positioning to 5G mobile networks to provide positioning data accurate to within centimeters, thereby creating advantages that will unlock a wealth of new services for telecommunications providers rolling out new networks to support Internet of Things (IoT), smart cities and the aviation industry.
UniStrong’s extensive experience in developing high-precision products, solutions and services will enable PCCW Global to integrate new services with 5G mobile infrastructure, providing High-Precision Positioning (HPP) accurate down to centimeter levels.
This integration of precision positioning expertise and technologies has the potential to revolutionize industries such as commercial drone operations, autonomous vehicles and transportation, logistics, construction, agriculture and others. This integration of leading edge technologies will also enable the provision of smart aviation solutions for airport authorities. Based on high-precision positioning and navigation technology, new airports will be able to leverage smart civil construction works that will facilitate safer and more efficient airport operations. These aviation technologies will also be able to integrate with a wide variety of IoT sensors, edge computing capabilities, machine vision and other AI technologies to create intelligent surveillance platforms capable of managing and enhancing many aspects of airport safety and efficiency.
The installed base of GNSS devices in use globally is forecast to increase from 6.4 billion in 2019 to 9.6 billion in 2029, with Asia-Pacific continuing to account for more than half of the global GNSS market. In terms of global annual GNSS receiver shipments, the market is forecast to grow from 1.8 billion units in 2019 to 2.8 billion units in 2029, according to a 2019 market report by the European Global Navigation Satellite Systems Agency (GSA).
Mr. Benney Cheng, Head of Strategic Project and Development, PCCW Global, said, “As a global ICT service provider with extensive high speed fiber networks and cloud services coverage worldwide, we are delighted to cooperate with UniStrong with the aim to offer unique, game-changing solutions in Satellite High Precision Positioning (SHPP) and Continuous Operating Reference Station (CORS) solutions ideally suited to the new era of 5G, IoT and smart cities.”
Dr. Jun Shen, Corporate Vice President and Chief Scientist of UniStrong, said, “The cooperation between UniStrong and PCCW Global will further promote the development of professional solutions and applications that are oriented towards global users’ needs. Based on GNSS technologies, and deeply integrated with communication technologies, Big Data, Industry 4.0, IoT, artificial intelligence and other technologies, these solutions will empower and influence more industries and countries, and promote BDS/GNSS global applications and international services worldwide.”
