AST SpaceMobile (AST) already has five of its BlueBird high-capacity broadband satellites in orbit, and has strong relationships with AT&T, Verizon and Vodafone each of which has stated that they want to start linking their existing cellular clients with AST. But AST needs far more satellites in orbit to provide a global service. The first […]

US telcos AT&T and Verizon have followed Vodafone in Europe by testing video calls using AST SpaceMobile’s orbiting satellites. Verizon and AST successfully trialed a live video call between two mobile devices with one connected via satellite and the other connected via Verizon’s terrestrial network connection, whilst AT&T and AST also successfully completed another video […]

Investment bank BNP Paribas hosted a low Earth orbiting ‘expert event’ with Dr Tim Farrar, an acknowledged expert on the satellite sector and Direct-to-Device (D2D) services in particular. Farrar argued that Elon Musk’s SpaceX/Starlink service, although embryonic today, are some “18 months ahead of competitors on D2D and that by the end of the year […]

Kathy Grillo, SVP, public policy & government affairs at US telco Verizon, speaking on reports that the US government wanted to access more C-band spectrum for terrestrial use, said Verizon welcomed the news. “We are now years past the last auction of mid-band spectrum and we are far from where we need to be as […]

STARZ has teamed up with Verizon to offer 12 months of STARZ included for eligible home internet customers in ths US. This offer is for new customers in Philadelphia, Baltimore and Washington, DC markets who order Fios 1 Gig or 2 Gig Home Internet or for customers in the Atlanta market who order 5G Home […]

AST SpaceMobile has announced that the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has granted the company Special Temporary Authority (STA) authorising testing service in the US. This approval enables AST SpaceMobile’s first five commercial BlueBird satellites, operating in low Earth orbit today, with unmodified smartphones in AT&T and Verizon premium low-band wireless spectrum supporting voice, full data, […]

Parks Associates research released at CES 2025 shows that 22 per cent of US households now receive their internet and mobile services as part of a bundle. This finding highlights a growing trend towards broadband expansion through the bundle of wired and wireless access. At CONNECTIONS Summit, the research firm and panels of industry experts […]

Using carrier aggregation and 5G virtualised technology, Verizon has reported that its engineers recently achieved 5.5 Gbps download speeds. That’s the equivalent of downloading 266 albums a minute or streaming 3,056 TV episodes per hour, according to Verizon “Customers expect the gold standard from Verizon and we work every day to do even better for […]

Live TV streamers in the US are more satisfied than cable and satellite customers, according to the JD Power 2024 US Television Service Provider Satisfaction Study. Overall satisfaction for live TV streamers is 625 (on a 1,000-point scale) compared with 524 among cable and satellite customers. The biggest gap in satisfaction between live TV streaming […]