AST SpaceMobile received permission from the FCC to test its satellites with AT&T and Verizon
Meanwhile, Vodafone completed a video call over AST SpaceMobile
SpaceX/Starlink, however, already boast over 100 D2D satellites up
Get ready for the commercial cellular low earth orbit (LEO) satellite race to begin.
The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) last week announced a Special Temporary Authority (STA) for AST SpaceMobile to enable its operator partners – AT&T and Verizon – to test its Bluebird direct-to-device (D2D) satellite constellation over the United States.
Meanwhile, in the United Kingdom, Vodafone has used the nascent Bluebird constellation to enable a video call between Margherita Della Valle, Vodafone Group chief executive in Newbury, England, and Vodafone engineer Rowan Chesmer in a remote mountainous location in mid-Wales, which doesn’t usually have broadband access.
So, maybe in the future, if you break your leg on Aran Fawddwy, the highest peak in that region, you’ll be able to call for help.
Comms from LEO
So how has AST SpaceMobile achieved this?
The AST SpaceMobile satellites have far larger phased array antennas on them than the equivalent of the second generation direct-to-device (D2D) Starlink satellites, which is how they are able to achieve this. Of course, Vodafone and AST would have timed it so the small AST satellite constellation – with just six satellites so far – was over the west of the United Kingdom at the time.
“The timings to conduct the calls are limited to whenever the satellites are overhead, which is only about 30 mins a day coverage currently,” said AST Investors on LinkedIn.
This capability, however, will enable AST SpaceMobile to deliver video calls – as well as voice and data calls – via space to AT&T, Verizon and Vodafone once the AST SpaceMobile constellation is larger. But how long will that take?
Kevin Chen, project consultant at Jensen Hughes, said in a comment to me on LinkedIn that it would take 45 to 60 satellites “for the minimum required for continuous coverage,” he said. It would require around 95 for global coverage, he added.
How long will it take AST to get that number up? The company has said it will happen this year or next. It expects to have 243 satellites up by the end of 2028.
So we could expect to see AST SpaceMobile services roll out for some operators by sometime in 2026 or 2027. They are likely to start with the same kind of emergency texting or calling service first, just as Apple and Starlink/T-Mobile have.
In the meantime, Space X and T-Mobile have finally launched their D2D Beta and switched on emergency texting using the service for the victims of the Los Angeles wild fires. Users with Samsung Galaxy S24 phones, recent iPhones and – now – Google Pixel 9 Pro units can sign up for the T-Mobile beta.
SpaceX and Starlink clearly have a major advantage over any other rival with its satellite launches. The companies reportedly have more than 100 direct-to-cell capable satellites in orbit now. That doesn’t mean – as Fierce has already reported – that the text services will available everywhere by any means.
As director of Disruptive Analysis, Dean Bubley has reiterated several times that D2D communications definitely won't work indoors.
Still, the early months of 2025 are finally signaling the emergence of commercial D2D services. Buckle up.