AST SpaceMobile will compete against One NZ’s satellite-based mobile service, launched shortly before Christmas in partnership with Elon Musk’s Starlink (part of SpaceX) – which currently offers text messaging, with voice and data promised by year’s end.
Whereas Starlink is based on a swarm of low-Earth orbiting satellites, each covering a small area, AST – ironically backed by One NZ’s former owner Vodafone, among others – has just five satellites but all in much higher orbit with larger footprints.
2degrees will have to build a local ground station before the launch, which a spokesman said would be done later this year and cost “millions of dollars”.
The spokesman said 2degrees would maintain its contract with Lynk.
One NZ has an exclusive contract with Starlink for an undisclosed period (a Musk post on X indicated the first wave of telco partners had a one-year jump start), with an option to renew.
2degrees chief executive Mark Callander earlier said he saw a future where multiple telcos had multiple contracts with various satellite-to-mobile providers.
The AST SpaceMobile service “is designed to provide 4G LTE and 5G cellular broadband directly to everyday smartphones without the need for any specialised software or device support, ensuring seamless connectivity for customers when they are outside of traditional coverage areas,” 2degrees says.
“What is particularly exciting about our partnership with AST SpaceMobile is that they are going straight to cellular broadband connectivity, not laddering through text, then voice, then data,” Callander said.
AST SpaceMobile is listed on the Nasdaq, with a US$8.5 billion ($15b) market cap.
The firm is based in Texas.
It raised US$110 million in venture capital in 2020 from backers including Vodafone and Samsung and listed the following year.
AST is essentially pre-revenue, but did earn $500,000 last year from US Government contracts.
Other partners for the 2026 launch of its satellite to mobile service include Verizon and AT&T in the US. The 2degrees spokesman said it was too early to commit to any exact date.
Chris Keall is an Auckland-based member of the Herald’s business team. He joined the Herald in 2018 and is the technology editor and a senior business writer.
