AT&T Teams With Satellite Provider AST SpaceMobile as It Looks to Boost Coverage - CNET

T-Mobile has partnered with SpaceX to boost its sum done SpaceX's Starlink outer network. Verizon has been talking astir working with Amazon's Project Kuiper program. Now AT&T has announced a caller outer spouse of its own. 

On Tuesday the bearer announced a caller concern with AST SpaceMobile, a outer company, to usage its debased Earth orbit satellites to assistance bolster AT&T's terrestrial coverage. In a video astir the partnership, Chris Sambar, AT&T's president of network, says that the wireless bearer has received "conditional approval" to usage immoderate of its wireless spectrum to link compartment phones to the satellites. 

In the video, Sambar rapidly goes done a fewer wide applications ranging from helping its FirstNet first-responder web to concern applications similar "remote agriculture" and "remote machinery." 

AT&T already has a outer concern with outer institution OneWeb to offer connections to the wireless carrier's concern users but hadn't announced immoderate consumer-focused outer service. 

Sambar does, however, hint astatine a imaginable user exertion arsenic helium describes however his mother-in-law's thrust from agrarian Virginia to Richmond to "see her kids and grandkids" includes a roadworthy that presently struggles for sum from "any wireless carrier." That drive, helium says, could perchance beryllium covered by a "space-based mobile solution." 

AT&T tells CNET that it plans to usage the work to connection "integrated, complementary and existent connectivity from satellite-based solutions for voice, information and video services." 

As for instrumentality support, AT&T says the work is "intended to integrate with each of our customers' devices utilizing LTE and 5G broadband connected our existing mobile network." The carrier, however, says it is "too early" to accidental if it volition complaint other for the work oregon see it with customers' existing plans. 

In its announcement of the SpaceX woody earlier this year, T-Mobile likewise said that the "vast bulk of smartphones" already connected its web volition beryllium compatible with its satellite-based work and that users won't needfully request to bargain a caller telephone to pat into that signal.

T-Mobile CEO Mike Sievert has besides said that his institution intends to see outer entree with T-Mobile's "most fashionable plans," though immoderate older oregon cheaper plans whitethorn request to wage a monthly interest to get the feature. 

Verizon, portion the archetypal to denote a abstraction spouse successful October 2021, hasn't elaborate its plans for connecting phones to satellites. It has alternatively antecedently told CNET that it was looking astatine utilizing Amazon's Project Kuiper for to "make the full representation of the US red," by providing backhaul connections to its compartment telephone towers successful areas that deficiency accelerated and reliable net connections. 

As for erstwhile AT&T and AST SpaceMobile's work mightiness commencement to appear, AST SpaceMobile has antecedently talked astir investigating its "direct-to-cell outer capabilities" during the archetypal 4th of adjacent twelvemonth before launching its archetypal 5 commercialized satellites successful "late 2023." AT&T plans to articulation this investigating successful the archetypal quarter. 

Scott Wisniewski, main strategy serviceman astatine AST SpaceMobile, tells CNET successful a connection that aft the motorboat of those satellites adjacent twelvemonth it volition beryllium capable to "offer intermittent broadband services successful 2024."