TAMPA, Fla. — AST SpaceMobile’s shares closed up more than 68% after announcing a revenue-sharing deal with AT&T, which plans to use its proposed direct-to-device satellites to keep smartphones connected in cellular dead zones.
The shares closed at $4.03 May 16, the day after AST SpaceMobile disclosed a definitive agreement with the telco extending until 2030 as part of earnings results.
AST SpaceMobile also recorded $500,000 in revenue for the three months to the end of March, marking the first commercial revenue from the constellation following a government contract for its BlueWalker-3 prototype that was launched two years ago.
The agreement with AT&T upgrades a Memorandum of Understanding between the companies, which have been working together for six years, establishing terms for the telco to roll out satellite connectivity in the United States after AST SpaceMobile deploys its first commercial satellites this year.
AST SpaceMobile executives declined to provide details about the arrangement in a May 15 earnings call with analysts.
The agreement did not come with additional prepayment revenue on top of the $20 million AT&T agreed to make in January, AST SpaceMobile chief strategy officer Scott Wisniewski said.
Abel Avellan, AST SpaceMobile’s CEO, said its first five commercial satellites remain on track to be delivered to Cape Canaveral in July or August for a SpaceX Falcon 9 launch to low Earth orbit, after the company’s most recent setback pushed the launch out of the second quarter of 2024.
Satellite production issues and cost overruns helped send the company’s shares on a downward trend not long after closing at $11.81 on their first day of trading on NASDAQ in 2021, following a merger with a special purpose acquisition company (SPAC).
“With these first five satellites, we will have the ability to offer U.S. nationwide, noncontinuous service with over 5,600 individual cells using premium low-band…
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