AirMarket Inc. and TELUS have signed a Letter of Intent (LoI) that underpins their new strategic alliance, which aims to accelerate the development and deployment of Unmanned Traffic Management services for the global drone market.
Utilizing the power of Canada’s largest and fastest network, AirMarket and TELUS are combining efforts to deliver a telecommunications control framework to safely integrate Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs), commonly referred to as drones, into Canadian airspace.
Unmanned Traffic Management (UTM) refers to systems that manage drone traffic for the safe integration of manned and unmanned aviation. As the use of drones continues to grow in popularity and more applications are developed for their use, it is crucial that UTM rapidly evolves to address new, complex air traffic situations. While basic systems are available today, such as the utmOSphere solution marketed by AirMarket, which is currently deployed in New Zealand, Italy and Dubai, this alliance between AirMarket and TELUS aims to build solutions that will help to shape the future of this burgeoning space.
“Canada is poised to move Beyond Visual Line of Sight operations” said Lindsay Mohr, CEO of AirMarket. “There are numerous commercial and industrial opportunities for drone use, and Unmanned Traffic Management systems are KEY to unlocking this potential.”
“As UAVs require a fast and reliable wireless connection, it is vital that telecommunications companies play a major role in developing and implementing UTM systems, so we are excited to be working with AirMarket to address the needs of this growing market,” said Ibrahim Gedeon, CTO at TELUS. “From integrating with today’s 4G LTE networks to preparing for the 5G networks of the future, we look forward to working with AirMarket to advance UTM technology and the UAV ecosystem in Canada.”
Both TELUS and AirMarket are working closely with the Canadian airspace management and regulatory bodies, NAV Canada and Transport Canada, to assist them in developing the necessary policies, rules and regulations to ensure that drones can safely fly within Canada’s airspace. The goal of this effort is to enable the delivery of cutting-edge services which will, in turn, foster the creation and development of new drone technologies, such as autonomously protecting our airports and monitoring pipelines, railways, electrical transmission lines and bridges.
Source: Press Release