SatCo will exclusively distribute AST SpaceMobile’s satellite services to European MNOs under a single turnkey arrangement
Vodafone and satellite company AST SpaceMobile have established a joint satellite service business called SatCo, with the goal of providing “100% geographic coverage in every part of Europe” to give consumers and businesses access to secure space-based cellular broadband connectivity via their mobile network operator (MNO).
SatCo will exclusively distribute AST SpaceMobile’s satellite services to European MNOs under a single turnkey arrangement, the companies said, and Vodafone’s expertise will inform the network management and operations center capability pieces. SatCo will also build and run a network of ground stations to provide backhaul services from Europe’s MNOs to the low0Earth orbit (LEO) satellite network.
Because AST SpaceMobile’s satellites already operate as remote radio heads while the core network capability remains with the MNO, SatCo’s solution will “fully support” digital sovereignty in Europe. In fact, the companies claim that SatCo will actually take this sovereignty a bit further by providing “fully sovereign backhaul capabilities under Vodafone co-ownership, with European headquarters and management.”
Margherita Della Valle, Vodafone Group CEO: “Vodafone’s space-based mobile broadband will mean our customers can stay connected, wherever they are. Our new satellite company will be able to offer this pioneering technology to other European mobile operators through a turnkey service that combines Vodafone’s leading network and engineering with AST SpaceMobile’s ‘antennas in the sky’.”
On 27 January 2025, Vodafone achieved the world’s first non-terrestrial video call using a regular, unmodified 4G/5G smartphones and AST SpaceMobile’s BlueBird satellites — forty years after claiming the U.K.’s first mobile phone call. According to AST SpaceMobile, the beams from its BlueBird satellites are designed to support a capacity of up to 40 MHz, delivering peak data transmission speeds of up to 120 Mbps.
And earlier this month, Vodafone announced plans to build a research hub dedicated to the enablement of seamless switching between low-Earth orbit space-based and land mobile broadband services. AST SpaceMobile, as well as the University of Málaga (UMA), are key partners. The project is also supported by an initial grant from the Spanish Space Agency.
