06 September 2022

Nokia has signed a five-year deal with AST SpaceMobile as it looks to provide 4G and 5G via LEO satellites to connect “under-served communities around the world”.

The latter said it is building a ‘space-based cellular broadband network accessible directly by standard 4G or 5G mobile devices’, while Finnish kit vendor will provide the RAN hardware.

Global testing with various mobile network operators across the world will begin after the BlueWalker 3 LEO test satellite launches in early to mid-September from Cape Canaveral, Florida.

AST SpaceMobile says it has a “mission to eliminate the connectivity gaps faced by over five billion mobile subscribers worldwide and to bring cellular broadband to approximately half of the world’s population who remain unconnected”.

The idea is that subscribers in some location remote enough that it is outside the reach of cellular coverage can roam from land networks to space networks. It currently has agreements with a roster of unnamed operators which apparently collectively service over 1.8 billion customers.

Nokia will use some AirScale Single RAN equipment, including base stations powered by ReefShark System-on-Chip chipsets, modular baseband plug-in cards and its NetAct solution for network management, optimisation and technical support services.

“Connectivity should be considered an essential service like water, electricity, or gas,” said Tommi Uitto, president of mobile networks at Nokia. “Everyone should be able to have access to universal broadband services that will ensure that no one is left behind. Nokia has a long history of delivering connectivity solutions that have had a major and positive impact on society.”

Scott Wisniewski, chief strategy officer at AST SpaceMobile added: “With the integration of Nokia’s AirScale system, AST SpaceMobile and Nokia are taking an important step toward closing connectivity gaps all over the world. Nokia is supporting us with dozens of engineers and development professionals, including leading architecture research experts at Bell Labs, the world-renowned industrial research arm of Nokia.”

AST SpaceMobile is aiming to deploy around 100 satellites in total.