Dutch communications services provider KPN is using Virginia-based Teoco’s digital airspace management platform, AirborneRF, to support its drone connect service.

This lets drone operators connect to KPN’s mobile 5G network and select the safest flight route with the best mobile coverage.

The ability to launch drone flights quickly and safely, especially during critical emergencies or disasters, is becoming increasingly important. In addition to providing connectivity for control, data exchange and 3D mobile coverage maps, KPN is leveraging AirborneRF to provide drone operators with population density data to reduce operational risks for drone flights. AirborneRF lets KPN offer drone operators secure and reliable network connectivity with all the critical data in one place to answer questions such as where and when is it safe to fly and who is flying, and why.

“To minimise the ground risk, insight into the population density on the flight route is essential,” said Han de Glint, business development manager at KPN. “Teoco’s AirborneRF empowers drone connect with the connectivity, analytics and monitoring capabilities essential to ensuring every drone flight is safe, efficient and controllable from points A to B, especially beyond visual line of sight.”

Thomas Neubauer, Teoco vice president, added: “For mobile operators to fully monetise the burgeoning UAV and drone opportunity, they need to be able to offer the aviation industry more than just connectivity services. AirborneRF provides a bridge between the telco and aviation worlds to ensure safe, secure and reliable drone flights at scale.”

AirborneRF ensures drone operators can maintain mobile connectivity for every device within the flight path, which is essential for beyond visual line-of-sight (BVLOS) drone operations. Bringing together the mobile network operator’s radio network with unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) airspace control, AirborneRF accurately calculates the safe zones for cellular-controlled drones to operate. It delivers this information to air and UAV traffic management systems in real time.

Find out more about AirborneRF at: www.teoco.com/products-services/ran-solutions/drone-connectivity.

KPN (m2m.kpn.com) has been providing telecommunications and IT services in the Netherlands for almost 140 years. Everyone in the Netherlands uses the KPN network on a daily basis, either directly or indirectly, from the high-speed fibre networks in the ground to payment card machines in shops, or the matrix boards above the motorways.