Vodafone Group extended its partnership with Intelsat to provide businesses in underserved areas with portable satellite broadband services, with the companies touting benefits of the proposition in emergency scenarios.

Under the deal, Vodafone will include Intelsat’s Flex portfolio into its satellite connectivity offerings for business clients worldwide and provide new solutions, including one dubbed Communications-on-the-Move service based on a vehicle-mounted antenna and the Communications-on-the-Pause service powered by a compact satellite terminal.

The duo said this will allow enterprises, charities and government agencies in remote zones to deploy multiple applications including cargo tracking, connect new or temporary sites and provide “additional resilience” in emergency responses.

Vodafone and Intelsat noted the agreement builds on their pioneering work in launching direct-to-smartphone connectivity based on low earth orbit satellites.

CEO of Vodafone Business Marika Auramo said the deal “adds depth and breadth to our global network”, noting its new satellite services enable “additional connectivity and resilience to customers in some of the hardest to reach places, whether they’re on the move, or need to quickly establish communications following an environmental or humanitarian disaster”.

The operator will also employ Intelsat’s service to support its charitable arm Vodafone Foundation’s health and education initiatives in Europe and Africa.

Jean Philippe Gillet, SVP, Media, Mobility and Networks at Intelsat commented: “The goal of our Flex services is to make it easier for our customers to leverage the reach and reliability of Intelsat’s network to deliver connectivity wherever they may operate, be it charitable initiatives like the Vodafone Foundation or connectivity for global enterprises, industrial operations, or rapid-response organisations.”