AT&T, Google, and Vodafone are investing USD 206.5 million in AST SpaceMobile, a company that is working on offering a cellular network to smartphones on Earth using cellphone towers in space (more specifically, using satellites in low Earth orbit), which is also known as satellite-to-smartphone connectivity, making it a competitor to SpaceX’s Starlink.
As a part of the latest investment, “Vodafone and AT&T have placed purchase orders for network equipment from AST SpaceMobile to support planned commercial service” and “Google and AST SpaceMobile agreed to collaborate on product development, testing and implementation plans for SpaceMobile network connectivity on Android and related devices.”
In September 2023, AST SpaceMobile launched BlueWalker 3, a prototype satellite, into space from a SpaceX rocket, to test the company’s upcoming service. Since then, AST SpaceMobile has successfully tested satellite-to-smartphone voice calls, video calls, and data downloads over the 4G and the 5G networks using an unmodified Samsung Galaxy S22.
