Vodafone plans rollout of Starlink rival AST to connect remote areas

By Jillian Deutsch 

Starlink-rival AST SpaceMobile Inc. is working with Vodafone Group Plc to bring a commercial satellite-to-mobile broadband service to customers in Europe as soon as this year. 

The technology will provide people in areas with poor mobile signal with 4G or 5G connectivity beamed straight from satellites connected to Vodafone’s core network, the Newbury, England-based telecommunications company said on Wednesday. The service could launch later this year or early next, it said. 

 

Vodafone demonstrated the technology on a remote Welsh mountain on Monday, with Chief Executive Officer Margherita Della Valle making a video call to an engineering colleague.

 

“No one today offers the service that has been designed with AST,” Della Valle said in an interview with Bloomberg, adding it is still too early to announce plans for how they will monetise the service. 

 

Telecom providers are becoming increasingly interested in integrating satellites into their networks to connect hard-to-reach areas or provide emergency services. 

 

AST’s offering differs from competitors in that it provides connectivity — enabling calls, internet connection and video — directly to existing devices, without needing special satellite phones or satellites. Elon Musk’s Starlink showed it can hold a video call on non-specialist phones last year, but AST’s test on Monday differed by using commercial broadband satellites.

 

Pricing will be the key question around uptake, said Kester Mann, an analyst at CCS Insights, which has found that around half of people in the UK would be willing to pay more for satellite connectivity. 

 

“Although exciting, the opportunity for satellite services in Europe is less clear-cut than in other regions,” Mann said. “This is mainly due to the already strong mobile and fiber coverage, meaning that the technology will likely only ever fulfill a complementary role for operators.” Other areas like Africa, Australia, and India offer greater potential, he added.

 

Vodafone first invested in AST in 2019 and late last year it signed a commercial agreement that runs until 2034. It also has a deal with Amazon.com Inc.’s Project Kuiper to access the tech giant’s low earth orbit satellites. AST launched its first five commercial satellites called “BlueBirds” last year and has plans to launch more this year.