The partnership aims to curb the market influence of Elon Musk's Starlink and reduce the region's dependency on foreign technology. By managing their own satellite-integrated services, the operators intend to maintain direct control over customer data and network administration. This initiative treats satellite connectivity as a standardized layer of European telecom infrastructure to stave off external competition from U.S.-based satellite providers.
Wednesday, October 21, 2026
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Europe's 4 Largest Carriers Partner with AST SpaceMobile for 500M Subscriber Bid
Tech2 days ago
Major European telecommunications firms are coordinating a bid for satellite spectrum to expand their broadband networks beyond traditional cell towers. Deutsche Telekom, Orange, Telefónica, and Vodafone are partnering with AST SpaceMobile to provide direct-to-phone connectivity for more than 500 million subscribers using the BlueBird network and existing ground infrastructure. This capacity expansion removes the carriers' total reliance on established cellular frequencies for wide-area coverage, and shares of AST SpaceMobile rose 4% in pre-market trading on the news.
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