US telco giant AT&T is already a financial backer of AST SpaceMobile (and has guaranteed a $20 million revenue commitment). AST plans on circling the globe with its ‘direct-to-cellular’ satellite service. Unconfirmed reports suggest that AT&T expects some 30-40 per cent of its US clients to take a low-cost add-on service for connection to AST […]

Deutsche Bank has delivered a favourable report on the prospects for would-be satellite-to-cellular operator AST SpaceMobile. The bank forecasts that by the end of 2006 it estimates AST will have more than 56 million subscribers to its satellite-to-cellular 5G system. Currently, AST has only a single satellite in orbit (its BlueWalker 3 test craft) but […]

SpaceX has confirmed it is working with T-Mobile in the US to launch its Starlink direct-to-cell (DTC) service commercially “this autumn”. This suggests that Starlink will be available – albeit in limited applications – while its rival AST SpaceMobile will only have just started to launch its satellites into orbit. Starlink has a global broadband […]

Recently it was asked if AST SpaceMobile, the would-be Direct-to-Cellular satellite business, could beat off competition from Space X’s Starlink and other rivals. It now seems that Verizon, along with AT&T, believes AST can make a very major impact on North American cellular connectivity. Verizon put $100 million into AST’s business and in the process […]

AST SpaceMobile and Verizon have announced a strategic partnership with a commitment of $100 million from Verizon, to provide direct-to-cellular AST SpaceMobile service when needed for Verizon customers in the US. “This new partnership with Verizon will enable AST SpaceMobile to target 100 per cent coverage of the continental United States on premium 850 MHz […]

AST Space Mobile has just one satellite currently in orbit which itself something of a test prototype for a planned global satellite-based ‘direct-to-cellular’ service. AST’s follow-up BlueWalker 3 satellites are expected to be ready for launch in batches of five craft starting in July or August (according to the company) and continuing in batches throughout […]

AST SpaceMobile has claimed it could be a rival to Elon Musk’s Starlink. At the moment it has just one test-satellite in orbit but has successfully trialled ‘direct-to-smartphone’ calls using the craft. AT&T has signed a multi-year commercial contract with AST. May 15th saw the operator release its Q1 numbers, and confirm the AT&T contract […]

AST SpaceMobile, already suffering criticism for multiple delays and alleged misleading statements to shareholders, has been hit with Class Actions. The actions will be before the Western District of Texas in the US District Court and before Judge David Counts. AST SpaceMobile is based at Midland, Texas. AST SpaceMobile, together with its subsidiaries, develops and […]

AST SpaceMobile is being rebranded to AST Networks. That was the one positive slice of news to emerge from its end-of-year results. The company’s overall news didn’t help confidence with investors and its share price crashed 13.6 per cent on April 1st and another 24 per cent on April 2nd. AST undoubtedly has a great […]

AST SpaceMobile wants to provide the planet’s smartphone owners with satellite-delivered 5G connectivity. The Texas-based company already has a massive prototype satellite in orbit, launched in September 2022, and claims that its technology is the world’s “first and only” global cellular broadband network and with 3,100 patents in place. But it has hit problems with […]