AST-Smart SpaceMobile will test cellular innovation

20 May 2022

Smart and AST SpaceMobile intend to test the latter’s BlueWalker 3 satellite, which is designed to communicate directly with unmodified mobile phones from LEO satellites.

Smart Communications Inc., a wireless business of PLDT Inc., will test space-based cellular broadband technologies in collaboration with AST SpaceMobile of the United States.

Smart and AST SpaceMobile intend to test the latter’s BlueWalker 3 satellite, which is designed to communicate directly with unmodified mobile phones from LEO satellites.

Smart is the country’s first telco to put this technology to the test.

AST SpaceMobile is developing the world’s first and only space-based cellular broadband network, which will be accessible via regular mobile phones.

In July of last year, Smart and AST SpaceMobile inked a memorandum of understanding to investigate potential to expand SpaceMobile wireless broadband connectivity to the Philippines after the service is operational.

Smart and AST SpaceMobile have indicated their support for the government’s broader goal of providing connection to all Filipinos, especially those living in remote places.

“We are always ready to work hand-in-hand with government to support its effort to link more Filipinos around the country and assist rebuild the post-pandemic digital economy,” Smart head of regulatory affairs Roy Ibay said.

PLDT and Telesat of Canada, a global satellite operator, successfully conducted the Philippines’ first on-orbit testing of high-speed broadband access using Telesat’s Phase 1 LEO satellite earlier this year.

PLDT became the first local service provider in the Philippines to undertake a live in-orbit test over LEO satellite utilizing an end-user interface built at the PLDT facility in Greenhills.

PLDT and Smart’s move into satellite-powered communication is part of a larger plan to provide world-class customer service across the country, complementing their nationwide deployment of fiber optics and 4G and 5G wireless networks.

Acting Secretary of the Department of Information and Communications Technology Emmanuel Rey Caintic said the digital divide is a major worry that has been exacerbated by the pandemic’s restrictions.

He noted that because of the Philippines’ archipelagic nature, establishing traditional terrestrial broadband infrastructure has been difficult, particularly in physically distant and poor areas (GIDAs).

“Fortunately, newer satellite technologies are capable of providing much-needed cellular coverage with greater deployment flexibility,” Caintic said.