Company announces agreement for long-term access to up to 45 MHz of premium lower mid-band spectrum in the US for direct-to-device satellite applications.
AST SpaceMobile, the company building the first and only space-based cellular broadband network accessible directly by everyday smartphones, designed for both commercial and government applications, has announced an agreement for long-term access to up to 45 MHz of lower mid-band spectrum in the US for direct-to-device satellite applications.
This agreement, when consummated, will add additional capabilities to AST SpaceMobile’s technology and space-based network, based on the largest-ever communications arrays deployed in low Earth orbit, pairing existing plans for the continental US on low-band spectrum, which offers superior penetration and coverage characteristics, with access to up to 45 MHz of lower mid-band spectrum, the largest available block of high-quality nationwide spectrum in the US.
“Adding premium lower mid-band spectrum access in the United States to the AST SpaceMobile network gives us long-term access to a large block of a scarce resource, significantly enhancing our planned space-based cellular broadband offering,” said Abel Avellan, Chairman and CEO, AST SpaceMobile.
“Alongside the previously announced 850 MHz nationwide network plans, access to the largest available block of high-quality nationwide spectrum will position us to deliver on our goal of peak data transmission speeds up to 120 Mbps – together with our mobile network operator partners we’re enabling a true broadband experience directly from space to everyday smartphones.”
In September 2024, AST SpaceMobile launched its first five commercial BlueBird satellites into low Earth orbit, each the largest-ever commercial communications arrays deployed into low Earth orbit, reaching approximately 700 square feet in size.
These initial satellites will offer non-continuous cellular broadband service across the United States and in select markets globally and will target approximately 100% nationwide coverage from space with over 5,600 coverage cells in the United States.
The next-generation Block 2 BlueBirds featuring up to 2,400 square-foot communications arrays, are designed to deliver up to 10 times the bandwidth capacity of the BlueBird satellites in orbit, enabling peak data transmission speeds of up to 120 Mbps, supporting voice, full data, and video applications, and other native cellular capabilities.
During 2024, AST SpaceMobile secured additional strategic investment from AT&T, Verizon, Google and Vodafone, and several contract awards with the United States Government, directly and through prime contractors.
The company 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.
