AST SpaceMobile, the company building the first and only space-based cellular broadband network accessible directly by everyday smartphones, designed for both commercial and government applications, announced an agreement to acquire global S-Band spectrum priority rights held under the International Telecommunication Union (ITU).
“Our revolutionary satellites and proprietary ASICs were designed with S-Band capabilities in mind. With these new spectrum priority rights, we will be in a position to bring services in S-Band to targeted markets around the world,” said Abel Avellan, Chairman and CEO of AST SpaceMobile. “Alongside our existing global 3GPP spectrum strategy and planned L-Band spectrum strategy in the U.S. and Canada, we would be capable of expanding subscriber capacity by offering the vast majority of countries around the world the full AST SpaceMobile network capabilities, together with our mobile network operator partners, enabling a true broadband experience directly from space to everyday smartphones and with a goal of peak data transmission speeds of up to 120 Mbps.”
On August 5, 2025, AST SpaceMobile entered into an agreement to acquire an entity that holds certain S-Band ITU priority rights to MSS (Mobile Satellite Services) frequencies in the range of 1980-2010 MHz and 2170-2200 MHz, for use in low Earth orbit. These spectrum priority rights will provide AST SpaceMobile a path to offer services in these spectrum bands around the world, subject to country-level regulatory approvals, supplementing the Company’s core global 3GPP cellular spectrum strategy. The Transaction has a total consideration of $64.5 million, to be paid in stock or cash at the Company’s election, with $26 million paid at closing and deferred consideration of $38.5 million, a portion of which is subject to achievement of performance-based milestones.
The Transaction is expected to close during the second half of 2025. The closing is contingent upon the satisfaction of customary closing conditions. UBS Securities LLC is acting as financial advisor to AST SpaceMobile and McGuireWoods LLP is acting as legal counsel to AST SpaceMobile.
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