Mexico’s América Móvil is the seventh-largest mobile telco in the world in terms of subscribers with activity in Colombia, Peru, Eastern Europe, and Argentina. At its Q3 results statement on October 17th it said it is also exploring partnerships for satellite connectivity, including agreements with Starlink and AST SpaceMobile, to enhance service in rural areas.

América Móvil is owned by Mexican billionaire Carlos Slim and excluding China and India, is the world’s largest in terms of mobile subscribers and total accesses across 22 countries.

Carlos García Moreno Elizondo, América Móvil’s CFO, told analysts that the company, having chosen two partners [in AST SpaceMobile and SpaceX’s Starlink] was always reviewing which partner was giving the best services to connect users in some rural areas.

“For mobile backhaul we [already] use satellite, and then there’s the other part where we do not have any coverage which is where these two different services come in and which we are reviewing now. We are always looking to have better quality and to reduce costs,” he added.

In practical terms, AST SpaceMobile can cover a much larger area than a Starlink beam because AST’s satellites orbit at higher altitudes. However, the downside is that if, for example, tens of thousands of users attempt to connect then the satellite service might be impacted. v has just five satellites orbiting currently and tests throughout this winter and next year will demonstrate overall efficiency. It is generally accepted that AST will need around 45-60 satellites in orbit to achieve continuous coverage.

AST SpaceMobile say they can manufacture up to six satellites per month.

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Tags: América Móvil, AST SpaceMobile, satellite