Home » News » Rakuten, Vodafone and Samsung launch the world’s first mobile network

Rakuten, Vodafone and Samsung launch the world’s first mobile network

Mickey Mikitani (CEO of Rakuten) and Abel Abellan (CEO and founder of AST & Science) (© AST)


Several companies have together raised the capital of the company AST & Science to $ 128 million to allow the launch of their offer to create a global mobile network.

Create a mobile network available everywhere? It is the ambition of several companies like Rakuten and Vodafone, but also Samsung NEXT (the division in charge of investments, mergers and acquisitions of the South Korean firm), American Tower or Ciscneros, who announced in a joint press release , released Tuesday, having made a new investment increasing the capital of the firm AST & Science, which is building the first broadband cellular network broadcast from space.

Patented ground and space technologies

AST & Science has the ambition to extend mobile coverage to more consumers and devices not on several countries or regions but on the whole planet. How? ‘Or’ What ? Using the very first mobile broadband network. The low latency and low orbit (LEO) satellite network will be able to connect to standard mobiles. This company, which has attracted large international groups, has filed numerous patents attesting to and protecting its ground and space technologies.

This network, dubbed SpaceMobile, aims to transform the global mobile market. According to Abel Avellan, boss of AST & Science, “It will eliminate the coverage gaps faced by the five billion mobile subscribers who connect every day.” “ The network will also have a decisive role since it will allow areas without a network to access mobile services long before traditional operators take matters into their own hands, “Helping more people access the digital economyAvellan continues.

SpaceMobile technology has already been tested – successfully – on board the BlueWalker 1 satellite, launched in April 2019.

A humanitarian dimension evoked by the investors of AST & Science, with a network accessible to the inhabitants of remote areas

In practice, SpaceMobile’s services will offer 4G to the company’s partners, then 5G a little later, without further details. The network will allow transparent roaming to or from terrestrial cellular networks, all at comparable data rates, without the need for specialized satellite equipment.

The British group Vodafone, which will provide technical, operational and regulatory expertise for the global deployment of SpaceMobile, indicates through its president Nick Read want to ensure “Let everyone benefit from a digital society, let no one be left behind. “ And the P-.D.G to continue: “We believe SpaceMobile is uniquely positioned to provide universal mobile coverage, further enhancing our leading network in Europe and Africa, particularly in rural areas and during natural or humanitarian disasters. “

Rakuten’s speech is as broad, with a humanitarian aspect as well, and even more ambitious than that of Vodafone. Mickey Mikitani, the boss of the Tokyo firm, details that his investment “Is part of our broader strategy to become a leading mobile network operator in Japan and a global solution provider in markets around the world. “

Source: Press release

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