UPDATE AST SpaceMobile (NASDAQ: ASTS), based in Midland, TX, announced the successful launch of its first five commercial satellites, called BlueBirds, early last Thursday morning from Cape Canaveral, FL. The Bluebirds’ large arrays of antennas are designed to reach standard smartphones directly at cellular broadband speeds for voice, data and video and other non-communications government applications.
Once in orbit, the BlueBird satellites are planned to offer non-continuous cellular broadband service across the U.S. and in select markets globally. The BlueBird satellites’ beams are designed to support a capacity of up to 40 MHz, enabling peak data transmission speeds of up to 120 Mbps. Bluebirds will target approximately 100 percent U.S. nationwide coverage from space with over 5,600 so-called coverage cells, or target areas on the ground.
AT&T (NYSE: T) is working with AST SpaceMobile towards offering voice, data, text and video services in remote, off-grid locations with standard smartphones without the need for a special terminal device.
“This is an exciting next step to a future where our customers will [have] the power to go anywhere and the possibility to do anything while staying connected with just an everyday cell phone,” comments Jeff McElfresh, AT&T Chief Operating Officer. “This moment has been several years in the making, and I am proud of our teams’ work, in collaboration with AST SpaceMobile, to help make space-based connectivity a reality.”
In 2024, AST SpaceMobile secured additional strategic investments from AT&T, Verizon (NYSE: VZ), Google (NASDAQ: GOOG) and Vodafone (NASDAQ: VOD), as well as new contract awards with the U.S. Government through prime contractors. American Tower (NYSE: AMT), Bell Canada (NYSE: BCE) and Rakuten (OTC: RKUNY) are also investors in the company.
AST SpaceMobile says it has agreements with more than 45 MNOs globally, which serve a total of over 2.8 billion subscribers.
The upcoming Inside Towers Intelligence 2024 Vol 3 issue features an in-depth analysis of satellite-based cell phone service in an article titled, “Satellites in Wireless Networks.” For more information or to subscribe, visit: https://insidetowers.com/intelligence/
By John Celentano, Inside Towers Business Editor
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