Verizon follows AT&T into space

Verizon plans to use the same satellite vendor – AST SpaceMobile – as AT&T in order to link its customers’ phones to satellites.

Under Verizon’s new agreement with startup AST SpaceMobile, Verizon will pay the company a total of $100 million in order to ensure AST SpaceMobile’s satellites can make use of Verizon’s 850MHz spectrum. That will allow all of Verizon’s existing customers – regardless of what phone they have – to connect to AST SpaceMobile’s satellites in areas where there is no Verizon coverage.

“We will now be able to use our spectrum in conjunction with AST’s satellite network to provide essential connectivity in remote corners of the US where cellular signals are unreachable through traditional land-based infrastructure,” explained Verizon’s Srini Kalapala, the operator’s SVP of technology and product development, in a release.

AST SpaceMobile inked a similar commercial agreement with AT&T earlier this month, after years of working with the company.

Verizon’s new deal with AST SpaceMobile represents a major vote of confidence for the satellite company, considering a wide range of other satellite vendors – from Ligado Networks to Omnispace to SpaceX to Viasat to Lynk Global – are also offering phone-to-satellite technologies.

Verizon’s announcement today could also be viewed as a swipe against Amazon’s Project Kuiper satellite effort. Verizon in 2021 said it would connect some of its rural cell towers to Amazon’s planned Project Kuiper satellites, a deal that led some in the industry to speculate that Verizon could expand that agreement to include direct-to-device (D2D) connections between Verizon’s phones and Amazon’s satellites. But Verizon’s new deal with AST SpaceMobile would appear to check that box.

Finally, AT&T doesn’t appear to be concerned about sharing AST SpaceMobile’s satellites with Verizon. “Together with AST SpaceMobile we have agreed to welcome another mobile operator in the US to bring in more spectrum and more coverage to create an even better solution and enhance service capabilities,” said AT&T’s Chris Sambar in a statement.

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