- AST SpaceMobile struck a pact to acquire global S-Band rights from an unidentified entity
- One analyst told Fierce the likely party is Sky and Space Global
- Investors will have to wait until AST SpaceMobile’s earnings call to get more details
AST SpaceMobile is giving its fans all kinds of reasons to look forward to Monday – because who doesn’t love Mondays?
The company, one of a number of up-and-coming direct-to-device (D2D) satellite players, revealed in a press release today that it struck an agreement to acquire certain S-band priority rights held under the International Telecommunication Union (ITU).
These Mobile Satellite Services (MSS) spectrum rights are important, in part because it means the company doesn’t have to rely so heavily on terrestrial spectrum to deliver D2D to mobile consumers around the world – and it gets it that much closer to actually delivering a broadband experience from space to everyday smartphones on the ground. Not every D2D service provider is talking about full-on broadband services to cell phones, which is one key aspect that sets AST SpaceMobile apart from a rather crowded D2D pack.
The bummer: The company didn’t reveal exactly who it’s acquiring these spectrum rights from. Asked about that, a company representative told Fierce that “the team will be providing more information during the company’s earnings call,” which is at 5 p.m. Eastern time on Monday, August 11.
Well, that’s one way to get people to pay attention to your otherwise run-of-the-mill earnings call, although it seems as though die-hard “Spacemob” devotees already are inclined to dial in, no matter the time of day or day of the week. AST SpaceMobile courts a bevy of retail investors and online supporters who are highly active on Reddit and social media, avidly following every twist and turn the company makes and oftentimes interpreting it as the best thing ever. (No judgement here, just sayin’.)
Who is AST's mystery partner?
AST SpaceMobile revealed that the frequencies involved in this pact are in the range of 1980-2010 MHz and 2170-2200 MHz. Based on that and various other clues, the unidentified partner in this deal is most likely Sky and Space Global, said Tim Farrar, founder of TMF Associates.
“There are only a very limited number of options,” he told Fierce. “Omnispace is one, and Sky and Space Global is the other, and I’m pretty confident that it’s Sky and Space Global.”
Omnispace has made more progress in the satellite and D2D space than Sky and Space Global, he said. Sky and Space Global’s plans to go global failed years ago and the new reported owner appears to be a company called Elliosat, which was set up earlier this year by two Texas-based founders, according to Farrar. AST SpaceMobile is based in Midland, Texas.
Reasons behind $64.5M deal
While AST SpaceMobile is mum on who it’s doing this spectrum rights deal with, it did reveal that it has a total value of $64.5 million, to be paid in stock or cash at the company’s election, with $26 million paid at closing and deferred consideration of $38.5 million, a portion of which is tied to meeting performance-based milestones. The company expects the deal to close in the second half of 2025.
Getting rights to use MSS spectrum around the world is a big deal in the satellite industry. In the U.S., AST SpaceMobile is getting access to L-band MSS spectrum through a transaction with Ligado. In Europe, AST SpaceMobile is bidding in a joint venture with Vodafone to get MSS spectrum rights there. This latest contract is expected to fill in a lot of areas not covered by those previous deals.
It's worth noting that AST SpaceMobile struck deals with AT&T and Verizon to use their low-band terrestrial spectrum in the U.S. for D2D services, but that’s not enough for the high-intensity broadband services that AST SpaceMobile is talking about offering.
“AT&T and Verizon are just not willing to give them very much spectrum,” Farrar said. “It’s a very small channel. It’s even narrower than the channel that the team that T-Mobile has given to Starlink, so the capacity will be extremely limited. They [AST] want to operate with more bandwidth and to do that, their plan is to get hold of these MSS spectrum in different patterns and aggregate those around the world.”
Just how does AST SpaceMobile intend to conquer the D2D world with this new agreement? Ahh. Only five more sleeps until all – or at least something – will be revealed on Monday.