AST SpaceMobile Announces FCC Grant of STA with AT&T and Verizon

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AST SpaceMobile (NASDAQ: ASTS), the Midland, TX-based satellite company, announced that the FCC has granted the company Special Temporary Authority (STA) to test services in the U.S. This allows their first five commercial BlueBird satellites, dubbed Block 1, operating in low Earth orbit today, to work with unmodified smartphones in AT&T (NYSE: T) and Verizon (NYSE: VZ) low-band 850 MHz spectrum. These transmissions support voice, data, and video without requiring specialized software or device upgrades.

The Block 1 BlueBird satellites will provide non-continuous cellular broadband service across the U.S., aiming for full nationwide deployment to over 5,600 coverage cells on the ground. The next-gen Block 2 BlueBirds, with up to 2,400 square-foot antenna arrays, are designed to deliver up to 10 times the bandwidth, supporting connection speeds up to 120 Mbps.

“Alongside integration efforts with partner networks we are installing five gateways in the United States, and we are now accelerating our path to commercial activity, starting with testing service with off-the-shelf cellular handsets on AT&T and Verizon networks,” comments Chris Ivory, AST SpaceMobile Chief Commercial Officer.

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