WASHINGTON — AT&T is prepared to provide more funds to help get AST SpaceMobile’s direct-to-smartphone constellation plans off the ground.
AST SpaceMobile raised $155 million from AT&T and other investors in January, but the satellite operator needs more capital to provide 5G connectivity globally from low Earth orbit to phones and other devices outside cell tower coverage.
While AT&T is a conservative company that does not generally provide venture funding, Chris Sambar, head of network for the U.S. telecoms giant, said March 20 its investment in AST SpaceMobile is unlikely to be its last.
Despite only investing recently, Sambar said during a Satellite Conference panel here with AST SpaceMobile CEO Abel Avellan that the telco has been working with the satellite operator for six years.
AT&T is excited about the potential of a service aiming to deliver “texting, voice, and true broadband capabilities” globally to unmodified phones already in circulation, he said.
According to AST SpaceMobile, download rates of around 14 megabits per second were achieved during tests with ordinary phones in September using BlueWalker-3, the Texas-based venture’s 1,500-kilogram prototype that has been in LEO for nearly two years.
Avellan said on the panel that AST SpaceMobile’s first five commercial BlueBird satellites, similar in size to BlueWalker-3 and known as Block 1, are slated to launch together on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket in the coming months.
Block 2 BlueBird satellites currently in development would be twice as big as Block 1 and have 10 times the capacity.
Avellan said between 45 and 60 satellites are needed to enable continuous coverage in the United States, but stopped short of saying when the companies plan to start providing full commercial services in the country.
Service charge?
AT&T is still exploring ways to monetize space-based connectivity, such as whether to add the service at no extra cost for premium…
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