Mobile operators look to the skies with connected UAV opportunity

Unmanned/uncrewed aerial vehicles (UAVs), or drones, continue to be a promising future means of transport of goods and people and enabler of transformational applications. However, most UAV-based services are confined to visual line of sight (VLOS) flights, meaning operation is only allowed in close proximity to the pilot (typically up to 2 km). For commercial use cases to scale, automation and beyond visual line of sight (BVLOS) flights are needed, for which mobile connectivity is a key enabler. The mobile industry is becoming increasingly relevant to and involved with UAVs: various telecoms regulators have granted special spectrum licences for UAVs, the 3GPP is working to improve synergy between drones and mobile networks, and retailers such as Amazon are testing mmWave-connected drones for goods deliveries. This analysis elaborates on the opportunity, as well as the challenges, that mobile-connected UAVs present for mobile operators.