Verizon partners with AST SpaceMobile to provide cellular service from space

Verizon has signed a deal to provide cellular service from space through AST SpaceMobile starting next year.
Shares of AST SpaceMobile, a space-based cellular broadband network, soared more than 10% before the market opened Wednesday.
SpaceMobile’s network is designed to operate on premium low-band spectrum, its own licensed L-band and S-band spectrum, and up to 1,150 MHz of low- and mid-band spectrum from partner mobile network operators worldwide, the company said.
“The agreement will extend the reach of Verizon’s premium 850 MHz low-band spectrum to areas of the United States that would benefit from the ubiquitous reach of space broadband technology,” Abel Avellan, founder, president and CEO of AST SpaceMobile, said in a statement.
The financial terms of the agreement, which extends to a strategic partnership announced in early 2024, were not disclosed.
“By integrating our extensive, reliable and robust terrestrial network with this innovative space technology, we are paving the way for a future where everything and everyone can be connected, regardless of geography,” Srini Kalapala, Verizon’s senior vice president of technology and product development, said in a statement.
The deal comes two days after Verizon named former PayPal CEO Dan Schulman to its top job, succeeding Verizon CEO Hans Vestberg.
Schulman, who has been a member of Verizon’s board of directors since 2018 and is its lead independent director, will immediately become CEO of the New York company. Vestberg will serve as special advisor until October 4, 2026.
Vestberg will remain a member of Verizon’s board of directors until its 2026 annual meeting.