AST SpaceMobile Forms Key Partnership with Verizon as Competition with SpaceX and T-Mobile Intensifies

AST SpaceMobile has formed a new partnership with Verizon to deliver space-based cellular broadband across the United States. This deal marks the company’s most important collaboration thus far as it aims to tap into a larger share of the burgeoning space-to-cellular sector.

Under the terms of the agreement, Verizon will integrate AST’s satellite network with its terrestrial systems, leveraging Verizon’s 850 MHz spectrum to improve coverage in remote areas where conventional towers are scarce. The detailed financial terms of the deal have not been disclosed.

This partnership builds upon a previous collaboration announced last year, in which Verizon pledged $100 million to help AST expand its service offerings.

With this agreement, Verizon becomes the second major carrier to partner with AST, following a decade-long agreement with Vodafone. The timing of the Verizon partnership is pivotal for AST as it accelerates the launch of its BlueBird satellite constellation designed for direct connectivity with standard mobile phones.

So far, the company has successfully launched its first five BlueBird satellites into low Earth orbit, forming the initial “Block 1” that provides “intermittent” coverage throughout the U.S. Concurrently, AST is developing the next generation of satellites—“Block 2”—with plans to deploy between 45 and 60 by 2026.

This collaboration underscores the swift advancement of the satellite-to-cell market. SpaceX has already initiated its direct-to-cell service in alliance with T-Mobile and has further enhanced its strategy by agreeing to acquire $17 billion in wireless spectrum from EchoStar.

AST has successfully showcased 4G and 5G connectivity between its satellites and smartphones, facilitating voice and video calls—key testing milestones that validate the network’s potential. Nonetheless, the company continues to face the hurdle of scaling this technology to support millions of users.

After the announcement of this partnership, AST shares experienced a jump of over 15% on Wednesday.