With a goal of eliminating dead zones across the continental US and, “empowering remote areas of the country with space-based connectivity,” AST SpaceMobile and Verizon have announced a partnership in the form of a $100 million commitment.
As the header image might suggest, we’re talking satellite connectivity here, with the space-focused AST SpaceMobile utilizing premium 850MHz spectrum for beaming cell service down to the surface and subsequently Verizon customers’ phones.
If this is your first time hearing about AST SpaceMobile, they currently partner with more than 45 mobile network operators around the globe, collectively serving over 2.8 billion subscribers. They must be doing some fine work down there, based in Midland, Texas.
In the press release that announced the partnership, Verizon’s Srini Kalapala (Senior VP, Technology and Product Development) says, “By entering into this agreement with AST, 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 U.S. where cellular signals are unreachable through traditional land-based infrastructure.”
We will assumably learn more about how this will be implemented at some point down the road.