Michelle Donegan is a tech writer who has covered the communications industry for more than 25 years on both sides of the pond. Having worked for various industry titles, including Communications Week International, Total Telecom and Light Reading, she specializes in mobile network technology trends.
Vodafone Group and Japanese mobile operator Rakuten have invested in AST & Science, a U.S.-based satellite startup that is building a network to deliver 4G and 5G mobile broadband services from space to fill coverage gaps.
AST’s network, called SpaceMobile, is a Low Earth Orbit (LEO), low-latency satellite network that the company claims will be the world’s first to connect directly to 4G and 5G smartphones without the need for extra or specialised satellite hardware.
AST plans to partner with mobile network operators and provide airtime on a wholesale basis. The goal is to enable mobile operators to fill connectivity gaps initially in their 4G networks, and eventually, 5G networks.
There are 5 billion people worldwide using smartphones who are continuously moving in and out of cellular coverage every day, while 1 billion people are not covered by cellular networks at all, according to AST. The startup’s mission is to provide cellular coverage everywhere and for everyone by enabling subscribers to roam automatically between SpaceMobile’s satellite network and traditional land-based cellular networks for the first time.
Vodafone ventures
Vodafone, via its Vodafone Ventures investment arm, contributed $25 million (£19.2 million) to the latest funding round. Vodafone and Rakuten were lead investors, and other investors in this round included American Tower, Cisneros, Samsung NEXT and AST’s founder Abel Avellan. AST has so far raised $128 million (£98.5 million).
Vodafone is also a strategic partner and will contribute technical, operational and regulatory expertise to support SpaceMobile’s deployment.
Vodafone CEO Nick Read, said: “At Vodafone we want to ensure everyone benefits from a digital society – that no-one is left behind. We believe SpaceMobile is uniquely placed to provide universal mobile coverage, further enhancing our leading network across Europe and Africa - especially in rural areas and during a natural or humanitarian disaster - for customers on their existing smartphones.”
AST tested SpaceMobile on board the BlueWalker 1 satellite, which was launched in April 2019. The company says it expects services to be operational in the next few years.
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