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Catching up on direct-to-cell in 2024: Testing, funding and stumbling
4 Min Read
The direct-to-cell sector didn’t seem to take much of a breather during the holidays, with players ranging from SpaceX to Lynk Global making waves throughout the latter days of December 2023 and the early days of January 2024.
Some companies announced tests, some scored new funding, some argued for more favorable federal regulations, and some chartered a new strategic course. None of that is a surprise considering phone-to-satellite connections require a significant amount of technical expertise, regulatory know-how, and cash to get those satellites into orbit.
Regardless, companies making noise in the market recently include Rogers, T-Mobile, Lynk, SpaceX, AST SpaceMobile, Qualcomm, MidWave Wireless, EchoStar, Rivada Space Networks and Globalstar.
Here’s a summary of recent developments in the sector, broken down by topic:
Testing
SpaceX and T-Mobile this week announced that the rocket company successfully launched its first six Starlink satellites capable of broadcasting signals in T-Mobile’s spectrum holdings. That paves the way for the companies to begin testing direct-to-cell services, thanks to an “experimental special temporary authorization” from the FCC for tests in around a dozen locations including Mountain View, California; Kansas City, Kansas; Redmond, Washington; and Dallas, Texas, among others. The effort represents a slight delay from the companies’ previous plans of testing the service in 2023.
Rogers and Lynk said they successfully tested a phone-to-satellite voice call using a Samsung Galaxy S22 smartphone. “We’re proud to work with Lynk to bring Canadians the very latest global technology that will give them access to 911 and wireless services,” said Tony Staffieri, Rogers’ CEO, in a release. Rogers is moving forward with direct-to-cell services from both Lynk and SpaceX.
Funding
AST SpaceMobile this week announced it is hoping to close its funding efforts this month “with multiple parties.” The company added that it had “secured initial ground infrastructure orders from two customers for planned commercial service,” but it did not provide details. AT&T has been a vocal proponent of AST SpaceMobile in the US.
Lynk in December announced it would merge with a special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) called Slam – backed by former US professional baseball player Alex Rodriguez – in a move that could have given the company access to more than $500 million in funding. However, as noted by Advanced Television, Slam now has to return $176 million to its initial investors who have chosen a refund rather than going ahead with the proposed merger. But the deal is still on.
SpaceX, meantime, reached “breakeven cashflow” in November, giving the privately held company a total valuation of an estimated $150 billion. However, according to SpaceNews, SpaceX chief Elon Musk said he has no plans to pursue a SpaceX initial public offering (IPO). “I don’t think it’s worth going public until you have an extremely stable and predictable revenue stream,” he said in late December. “If your cash flows are extremely stable and predictable, at that point going public is less of an issue.”
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