The agreement, which extends through 2034, will enable Vodafone to offer space-based cellular broadband connectivity
Direct-to-cellular company AST SpaceMobile has locked down another mobile carrier deal, securing a long-term commercial agreement with European and African telecommunications company Vodafone Group. The pair said the agreement, which extends through 2034, will enable Vodafone to offer space-based cellular broadband connectivity both in its home markets and to the other operators in its Partner Markets program.
Vodafone has been a supporter of AST SpaceMobile since 2018 as a key financial backer. In September 2023, the pair successfully completed a space-based 5G voice call, which took place from Hawaii to José Guevara using an unmodified Samsung Galaxy S22 smartphone and AST SpaceMobile’s BlueWalker 3 test satellite. Almost exactly a year later, the satellite company launched its first five commercial satellites, called BlueBirds, on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Cape Canaveral, Florida.
As part of the latest tie-up, Vodafone has placed an order for its first Block 1 BlueBird gateway. “Users outside traditional cellular coverage will be able to connect their everyday smartphones directly to AST SpaceMobile’s satellites in low Earth orbit, which in turn will route the data to the gateway,” said the companies. “These gateways will then connect to Vodafone’s existing network infrastructure to route the broadband data to users’ devices, as well as to access third-party Apps and the Internet.”
On its website, Vodafone described further what customers can expect from the agreement: “An initial phase of AST SpaceMobile would cover the 49 largest countries in the equatorial regions, including a number of markets where we operate in Africa, subject to regulatory approval … The equatorial phase would see 20 satellites launched to enable access to connectivity across a region of Africa where approximately 1.6 billion people live. This phase of service would target an area north and south of the equator, including rural and remote areas of a number of markets where we operate.”
AST SpaceMobile said its next-gen Block 2 BlueBirds will feature up to 2,400 square foot communications arrays and will deliver 10 times the bandwidth capacity of the BlueBird satellites in orbit today, enabling peak data transmission speeds up to 120 Mbps.
The company also announced a commercial deal with AT&T in May of this year has officially inked an agreement with satellite direct-to-cellular company AST SpaceMobile, which extends through 2030, for a commercial direct-to-device service provided to unmodified cellular phones.
AST SpaceMobile has agreements with more than 45 mobile network operators globally, which have over approximately 2.8 billion existing subscribers total, including Vodafone Group, AT&T, Verizon, Rakuten Mobile, Bell Canada, Orange, Telefonica, TIM, Saudi Telecom Company, Zain KSA, Etisalat, Indosat Ooredoo Hutchison, Telkomsel, Smart Communications, Globe Telecom, Millicom, Smartfren, Telecom Argentina, MTN, Telstra, Africell, Liberty Latin America and others. AT&T, Verizon, Vodafone, Google, Rakuten, American Tower, Cisneros Group and Bell Canada are also existing investors in AST SpaceMobile.
AST SpaceMobile shares soared 12.5% in pre-market trading following reports of its deal with Vodafone.
