Focus: Telecom

Amazon has planted its flag in the direct-to-device (D2D) landscape with a deal to acquire Globalstar and deploy its own D2D satellite system. Amazon will acquire Globalstar under a roughly […]

Canadian telco Northwestel has signed on for a multi-year contract for capacity from Telesat’s Lightspeed constellation to provide broadband services.  Northwestel operates in Canada’s North, which includes Nunavut, the Northwest […]

Viasat and Space42 have shared more details about the Equatys direct-to-device (D2D) joint venture, including that Equatys will be supported by up to 2,800 satellites.  Equatys has been pitched as […]

Deutsche Telekom will leverage SpaceX’s Starlink Mobile V2 constellation for direct-to-device (D2D) services to close coverage gaps in 10 European countries, it said in a statement Monday. The agreement would […]

Virgin Media O2 (VMO2), one of the largest wireless operators in the U.K. is now a step closer to bringing direct-to-device (D2D) services to its U.K. customer base. Ofcom, the […]

The massive array on AST SpaceMobile’s BlueBird 6 satellite successfully unfolded in Low-Earth Orbit (LEO), the company announced on Tuesday evening. BlueBird 6 is designed to provide cellular broadband from […]

Amazon Leo said it agreed to supply internet connectivity services to AT&T in a deal that would expand the wireless provider’s service area. In a joint press release with Amazon, […]

Spanish telco MasOrange will trial Starlink’s Direct-to-Cell service under a new agreement with SpaceX announced Monday.  The Spanish regulator, the State Secretariat for Telecommunications and Digital Infrastructure, granted approval for […]

For the better part of a decade, the promise of satellite-to-handset connectivity has sat somewhere between trial and theory. With the first commercial direct-to-device (D2D) constellations now scaling up and […]

Airbus is teaming up with a group of satellite tech leaders to test standardized global 5G non-terrestrial network (NTN) connectivity. On Wednesday, Airbus announced the UpNext SpaceRAN (radio access network) […]

ST Engineering iDirect is working with Capgemini to develop a 5G non-terrestrial network (NTN) satellite base station that will enable integration between satellite and terrestrial networks. The companies announced Tuesday […]

Keysight Technologies and KT SAT completed what they called “the industry’s first successful NR-NTN multi-orbit handover between a commercial GEO satellite and an emulated LEO link” based on a lab […]

Nordic Semiconductor has launched a new software and development kit with satellite at the heart of it. The new nRF9151 SMA Development Kit (DK) will combine satellite and IoT connectivity […]

Viasat has released a report looking at the burgeoning direct-to-device (D2D) satellite connectivity market. The inescapable conclusion of the report is that customers are willing to pay a bit more […]

When SpinLaunch announced plans in April of this year to deploy Low-Earth Orbit (LEO) constellation Meridian Space, it raised eyebrows across the satellite industry. Why is the nonconventional launch startup […]

Transformative deep tech innovation is the key to unlocking value from the emerging space ecosystem – and there’s no doubt in my mind that the telecoms industry will play a […]

Kyivstar, Ukraine’s largest mobile network operator, is now offering direct-to-cell services for its customers by working with SpaceX’s Starlink constellation. First announced early this year, the service is now available […]

Industry group the Mobile Satellite Services Association (MSSA) has released new strategic recommendations for standards-based and interoperable non-terrestrial network (NTN) solutions.  This is aimed at influencing architectures for direct-to-device services […]

OQ Technology successfully sent an emergency broadcast message directly to phones through its satellite constellation in a recent demonstration.  The demonstration took place in Luxembourg, sending an emergency broadcast message […]

Orange is launching a satellite messaging service working with Skylo, the French telco announced Tuesday during an Orange OpenTech event.  Orange said the service is currently available in France and […]

The direct-to-device (D2D) market recently saw a significant piece of consolidation with Lynk Global and Omnispace’s plans to merge, along with a strategic bet from SES. Once the merger is […]

AST SpaceMobile and Vodafone announced plans for a new European satellite constellation on Nov. 7 to provide direct-to-device (D2D) services. The two companies announced a joint venture earlier this year […]

British telecommunications company Virgin Media O2 is working with Starlink to offer direct-to-cell services to its customers in a new offering called O2 Satellite.  Under the deal announced Thursday, O2 […]

Orange Business is integrating Eutelsat’s OneWeb satellite service into a mobile, emergency telecommunications unit called SafetyCase, Orange announced Wednesday.  SafetyCase is a compact solution can be deployed in emergency situations […]

Verizon has formalized a commercial agreement with AST SpaceMobile to provide its direct-to-cell services to Verizon’s customers starting in 2026, AST SpaceMobile announced Wednesday.  This comes after last year, Verizon […]

Karrier One, a company deploying a decentralized telecom network, announced a partnership with Iridium Communications this week to integrate its direct-to-device service into the Karrier One ecosystem.  Karrier One, based […]

IoT provider Soracom said that its non-terrestrial network (NTN) integration with Skylo is now in general availability for North America, Europe, Latin America, and Oceania. This allows Soracom customers to […]

Satellite operators Viasat and Space42 are pitching a new way to approach the direct-to-device (D2D) market, based on shared spectrum and treating satellites like shared infrastructure of cell towers. The […]

Capgemini, Thales and Thales Alenia Space have won a key direct-to-device (D2D) contract in France. The three companies have been selected by the French Space Agency (CNES) as part of […]

EchoStar is canceling its plans for the direct-to-device (D2D) satellite constellation announced last month, instead selling spectrum to SpaceX that will be used for Starlink’s own D2D services in a […]