The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has published its proposed framework which could allow satellite operators to use spectrum from terrestrial cellular businesses for their smartphone connections, and when beyond the reach of conventional mobile towers. Jessica Rosenworcel, FCC chair, says the final draft of rules have been sent to the regulator’s other four Commissioners that, […]

Fledgling satellite operator AST SpaceMobile has signed up Japanese telco Rakuten to its planned direct-to-smartphone service. Rakuten says it will deploy AST services starting in 2026. Rakuten joins Vodafone, AT&T and Google to AST SpaceMobile’s growing club of telcos promising a satellite-based service. Other members of the club include Bell Canada and American Tower and […]

AST SpaceMobile wants to cover the planet with satellite signals that supply ‘direct-to-cellphone’ connectivity. It already has one satellite in orbit (BlueWalker 3) but says its next craft will be “100 times more powerful” in terms of processing bandwidth. AST recently struck agreements with AT&T, Vodafone and Google and says it has terrestrial links with […]

Officials from satellite company AST SpaceMobile met with FCC officials on December 14th 2023 over a potential problem with its frequency registrations. AST is building a super-constellation of satellites with the intention of supply a ‘direct-to-smartphone’ service. AT&T, Vodafone and Google are investors in the company. AST is using Papua New Guinea (PNG) as its […]

The US Rural Wireless Association (RWA) on February 1st wrote to FCC Jessica Rosenworcel about AST SpaceMobile and the satellite operator’s commitment to provide “supplemental coverage from space” at a minimum of 35 Mb/s download (and just 3 Mb/s upload) for broadband. AST is also looking to receive cash from the US government’s 5G Fund […]

Chris Forrester There’s considerable interest in what various heavyweight suppliers might be doing in terms of Direct-2-Cell satellite telephony. Apple, Google, AST SpaceMobile and others, including SpaceX’s Starlink, are very busy in this area. A filing with the FCC from T-Mobile on January 18th (which is linked with Starlink) explains their intentions, and the practical […]

Such is the market’s enthusiasm for AST SpaceMobile’s prospects that the company’s financial underwriters have successfully placed another 4.83 million shares and, after fees and expenses, the net proceeds will be $14.1 million (€13m). Texas-based AST is proposing a global satellite ‘direct-to-smartphone’ service to commence within the next year or so. Last week it received […]

Forbes has declared that 2024 will be the ‘Year of Low Earth Orbit satellite services’ and expects the likes of Elon Musk’s Starlink to make significant inroads but with competition from other players. That competition could make the LEO segment a “crowded place”. February will see Mobile World Congress take place in Barcelona where satellite-based […]

The US Patent Office has granted a Patent covering ‘SATCOM GSM Solution Directly Communicate With GSM Phones’. The Patent was granted on November 14th 2023 to three inventors – Zhi Zhong Yu or Reading UK, Frederico Pedro Fawzi of Midland, Texas and Abel Avelian of Coral Gables, Florida. The Continuation Patent is assigned to AST […]

Texas-based AST SpaceMobile, which wants to provide a global satellite-to-smartphone services, has received some major investments from major telcos and Google. But there’s also bad news. The cash, totalling some $263 million (€241.4m), comes from AT&T, Vodafone and Google. The finance, according to consultant Dr Tim Farrar (of TMF Association) suggests that the extra cash […]