Moon to get its first 4G network

Sometimes, trying to get a proper mobile signal while moving about anywhere is like wishing for Moon. And now it looks like the Moon will indeed be the best bet for connectivity — much better than down on Earth anyway — with Nokia and Vodafone collaborating to set up a 4G network up there.

The immediate reason is to ensure that Audi’s two lunar quattro rovers can beam back HD video footage and data from there in 2019, but if it works well, other people landing up on the Moon simply to get up to speed on data transfers cannot be ruled out.

By the time China and Europe get round to building the joint moon base they began discussing last year, the network will come in handy too. And as Amazon’s Jeff Bezos also owns Blue Origin, an aerospace manufacturing and space flight company, his hopes of a moon shipping service — aided by 4G connectivity — by 2020 is not very far-fetched either.


Once Amazon Prime comes to the Moon, not to mention fast-food delivery chains, relocating there will become attractive to more people than just space tourists looking to beam selfies from up there.

Considering there are probably as many signal black spots on Earth as there are black holes in space, aiming for the Moon for out-of-this-world connectivity is a pretty good idea, sirji. But wait, will they be able to hear mobiles ring in the vacuum?