This week, AST SpaceMobile signed an ongoing agreement with Verizon to provide direct-to-cellular AST SpaceMobile service when needed for Verizon customers starting next year, enabling Verizon customers to stay connected even when outside of the footprint of Verizon’s terrestrial mobile network.
The agreement follows successful voice and video calls testing — as well as two-way RCS messaging — between standard, unmodified smartphones and a BlueBird satellite in space.
The AST SpaceMobile network offers direct connections to Verizon smartphones, eliminating the need for specialized equipment. The network functions across the company’s own licensed L-band and S-band spectrum, and up to 1,150 MHz of mobile network operator partners’ low- and mid-band spectrum, globally.
Verizon and AST SpaceMobile signed their first deal in 2024, similar to the one AST SpaceMobile already had with AT&T. The ongoing partnership announced this week is being touted as an expansion of the companies’ strategic partnership that, importantly, is being signed after the successful tests.
“This partnership with AST SpaceMobile is a good step forward in our mission to build a seamlessly connected world. We are not just filling in the map; we are creating a new paradigm of connectivity that will unlock the full potential of the digital age,” Srini Kalapala, Verizon senior vice president of technology and product development, said in a prepared statement about the AST SpaceMobile partnership.
“By integrating our expansive, reliable, robust terrestrial network with this innovative space-based technology, we are paving the way for a future where everything and everyone can be connected, regardless of geography.”
The original 2024 deal with Verizon called for Verizon to commit $100 million to AST SpaceMobile, including $35 million of convertible notes and $65 million in commercial prepayments, $45 million of which are subject to “certain conditions.”
