UPDATE A second marriage of telecom and satellite providers has been announced as AT&T (NYSE: T) will be pairing up with AST SpaceMobile, Inc. Like SpaceX and T-Mobile (NASDAQ: TMUS) before them, the new partners hope to achieve a fruitful relationship in orbit. As Bloomberg reports, now that the AT&T and AST SpaceMobile duo is official, they plan on setting up shop together, agreeing to build a space-based broadband network.
“This will be a full data service, unlike anything you can get today from a low-Earth orbit constellation,” stated AT&T head of network Chris Sambar. Now that the partners have moved from “loose partner to a strategic partner,” Sambar will join the AST SpaceMobile board. He pointed to the success of the BlueWalker Test 3 satellite as an indication of a bright future for both AT&T and SpaceMobile.
In July, AST SpaceMobile intends to deliver five satellites to Cape Canaveral with plans to launch them in August. A SpaceX rocket will take them into orbit. Eventually, the network is expected to support 45 to 60 satellites. Once in full operation, consumers connected to the network will be able to enjoy the benefit of satellite-connected calls through their regular cell phones, according to Bloomberg.
“Space-based direct-to-mobile technology is designed to provide customers connectivity by complementing and integrating with our existing mobile network,” stated AT&T COO, Jeff McElfresh. “This agreement is the next step in our industry leadership to use emerging satellite technologies to provide services to consumers and in locations where connectivity was not previously feasible.”
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