Categories: Networks

Vodafone Makes Satellite Video Call From Welsh Mountain

Vodafone has made what it says is the first video call via satellite from a standard smartphone.

The call was made to Vodafone chief executive Margherita Della Valle by company engineer Rowan Chesmer from a mountain in Ceredigion, west Wales, in an area where there is no cellular reception, the company said.

The Monday call made use of AST SpaceMobile’s five BlueBird satellites in low-Earth orbit, which are designed to provide transmission speeds of up to 120 megabits per second to standard smartphones.

Vodafone, which is an investor in AST SpaceMobile, said it would offer satellite connectivity to its UK phone network by the end of this year and extend it across Europe in 2026.

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launches an Inmarsat satellite from Cape Canaveral, Florida. Image credit: SpaceX
A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launches an Inmarsat satellite from Cape Canaveral, Florida. Image credit: SpaceX

Eliminating not-spots

Della Valle said the technology could help eliminate areas without connectivity, which Ofcom says affect 9 percent of the UK.

While AST SpaceMobile needs to add far more satellites to build out its network to commercial levels, satellite technology is seen as a key way to extend mobile coverage.

Apple’s iPhone 14 and later models support satellite services, but only for low-bandwidth uses such as emergency text messages or sharing a user’s location.

Similar services are supported by Google, Samsung and other devices.

T-Mobile US and SpaceX’s Starlink are testing satellite-based text services, with plans to expand into voice and data.

The Vodafone call had to be timed carefully to ensure AST SpaceMobile’s satellites were available to provide service, Vodafone said.

Della Valle said satellite services were “opening the door to universal connectivity”.

Regulatory questions

The services are not designed to replace standard cellular transmission masts, but to supplement ground-based services, she said.

As companies including Starlink and Jeff Bezos’ Project Kuiper launch growing constellations of communications satellites, questions remain around how the technologies are to be regulated.

Ofcom said it would consult on the subject in “early 2025”.

British astronaut Tim Peak, who joined Vodafone for the video call, said there was “plenty of room” in orbit for more satellites, but that people needed to think about how to “protect the space environment”.

“What we need to think about in the future… is how we manage and regulate the number of satellites going up there, how we safely bring them back down or take them away from the planet, and how we protect the space environment whilst using it for the benefit of everybody back on Earth,” he said.

He called the use of space-based technology to provide mobile coverage an “incredible breakthrough”.

Matthew Broersma

Matt Broersma is a long standing tech freelance, who has worked for Ziff-Davis, ZDnet and other leading publications

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