Verizon ends his first NTN video call with AST Spacemobile

AST Spacemobile supported Live -NTN video for Verizon, AT&T via its new Bluebird Leo satellites

Verizon said that it has successfully completed its first live video call for non-terrestrial network (NTN) between a device in its terrestrial mobile network and one via an AST Spacemobile satellite.

In the meantime, AT&T also announced this morning that AST supported another video call via his network via a regular smartphone. The airline told the airline that almost half of the AT & T customers have access to peer-to-peer messages and emergency satellite services.

Before the start of the latest satellites from AST in June 2023, AT&T made its first video call in June 2023. This time AST Spacemobile initiated the Live NTN video call from Midland, Texas, according to AT&T, which called it “a small step for humans, but a huge connection for humanity”.

Hans Vestberg, Chairman and CEO of Verizon, commented on Verizons NTN video call: “This breakthrough marks a new era in a cellular -to -satellite conference in the US . Adding this level of skills – not only to write to someone, but to be able to call or send a call, video chat or files – whether in the wilderness or in a remote part of a sea community, the reliability of the customers is only improve. Connectivity and communication experience. “

Other mobile operators and device manufacturers, including T-Mobile US, Vodafone, Apple and Google, have tested and prepared new NTN services in the past few months, with some options being commercially becoming commercial this year. (T-Mobile Us just started his beta NTN service with Starlink at the beginning of this month.)

Verizon is not only a customer of AST-Spacemobile from AST-Spacemobile and also has a relationship with the NTN Connectivity provider Skylo for satellite-based, direct messaging outside of its network printout. (Verizon and Skylo also research the development of satellite iot technology and have carried out a proof-of-concept, which is the roaming capacity of a verizon-capable IoT mobile phone device both via the mobile phone network of the mobile operator and the Skylo satellite network shows.)

“Our team worked tirelessly to develop a satellite for a device data connection for consumers to operate their lives,” said Joe Russo, EVP and President of Global Network and Technology for Verizon. “We are relentlessly concentrated to offer our customers the most reliable network experience in which they live, work and play, and to offer this additional level of reliability .. “

At the beginning of this month, AST Spacemobile received permission from the Federal Communications Commission, the five new Bluebird satellites in Low Earth Orbit (Leo), which were introduced in October 2024. Unmodified AT & T and Verizon smartphones is expected.

The AST spacemobile has previously explained that the goal is to deliver a nationwide coverage of approximately 100% with more than 5,600 cover cells. The company works with both Verizon and AT&T in the USA. Verizon has undertaken for AST Spacemobile of 100 million US dollars, which includes commercial advance payments of 65 million US dollars plus convertible notes of 35 million US dollars and the use of the 850 MHz spectrum of the company .

In related messages, Vodafone-one announced another investor and customer of AST Spacemobile-Ein Research Center, which is dedicated to enabling the seamless change between the World Commerce and Landmobile Diobreibe Services. The project is supported by a first subsidy of the Spanish space agency, and the Telco has invited AST Spacemobile and the University of Málaga (UMA) as a senior partner with other technologies and developers by third -party providers.

The focus for the hub is placed on the draft, testing and validation of new hardware, software and processing chips from open source, which can work interchangeable both in space and in terrestrial networks. Land Gateway, like the Telco for Direct-to-Device-Video call in January, a performance that it describes as worldwide. Vodafone's partners and other operators can use this gateway to test and validate their own services that are connected to the Bluebird satellites of AST -Spacemobile before introducing them to the market.