The company's Block 1 BlueBird satellites undergo thermal vacuum testing in preparation for launch.
AST Mobile Space
Satellite to Phone Service Provider AST Mobile Space announced a partnership with Verizon on Wednesday, adding to the company's recent agreement with AT&T to provide remote coverage throughout the United States.
AST SpaceMobile is building satellites to provide broadband service to unmodified smartphones, in the nascent “direct-to-device” communications market.
The company's president and CEO, Abel Avellan, touted AST's deals with Verizon and AT&T as “essentially eliminating dead zones and strengthening remote areas of the country with space connectivity.”
The Verizon deal also effectively includes a $100 million raise for AST, in the form of $65 million in upfront payments for merchant services and $35 million in debt through convertible notes. The companies said $45 million of the advance payments “are subject to certain conditions,” such as necessary regulatory approvals and the signing of a definitive commercial agreement.
AST shares rose more than 18% in premarket trading from their previous close at $5.33 per share. The company's shares have more than doubled in the last month.
Sign up here to receive weekly editions of CNBC's Investing in Space newsletter.
The partnership with Verizon follows a similar pattern to AT&T's work with AST. In January, AT&T was a co-investor in the company along with Google and Vodafone. The companies then established the commercial agreement earlier this month, which “lays out in much more detail how we will ultimately offer the service together,” AST Chief Strategy Officer Scott Wisniewski said in a statement to CNBC.
AT&T told CNBC on Wednesday that it welcomed AST's partnership with Verizon.
“[It] reinforces our shared commitment to delivering nationwide spatial broadband directly to everyday mobile phones,” AT&T network chief Chris Sambar said in a statement.
A variety of major players are seizing the direct-to-device, or D2D, opportunity, seeing the possibility of expanding the mobile communications market to any location on Earth where “cellular signals are unreachable via traditional terrestrial infrastructure,” such as Srini Kalapala said. , he described in a statement on Wednesday.
A view from aboard the satellite, captured after deploying the 693-square-foot array.
AST Mobile Space
Smartphone manufacturers, service providers and satellite companies are all working or partnering on D2D projects. Rivaling AST's deals is SpaceX's Starlink, which has partnered with T Mobile. Besides, Apple has been spending a lot to provide his global star-Compatible “SOS Emergency with Satellite” service, which was implemented with iPhone 14 models.
AST expects to launch its first five commercial satellites later this year. SpaceX, which has more than 3 million Starlink customers, aims to implement the addition of its T-Mobile-compatible phone service later this year. Elon Musk's company earlier this month completed what he said was the “first video call” over social media using its satellites connected to unmodified phones.
Correction: Apple has been spending big to provide its Globalstar-backed “Emergency SOS with Satellite” service. An earlier version incorrectly indicated the name of a company.
