Mobile operator Vodafone has made the "world's first" space video call in an area without mobile coverage using standard 4G/5G smartphones and satellites. The company plans additional tests in the spring, and the introduction of satellite broadband in Europe is expected later in 2025.
Thanks to satellite communications, Vodafone users will be able to make video calls, access the Internet and online messaging services in areas without mobile coverage using conventional 4G/5G technologies.
"It is the only satellite technology of its kind built to offer a full mobile broadband experience and paves the way for universal digital connectivity and the closure of mobile coverage gaps," the company said in a statement.
Vodafone uses BlueBird satellites from AST SpaceMobile, one of SpaceX's main competitors, to provide this connection. The signal from the users' smartphones, which do not require any additional improvements or elements, is sent to the BlueBird satellites and from there to the recipient's smartphone.
In the test video, Vodafone engineer Rowan Chesmer made a video call to the company's CEO Margarita Della Valle from a remote mountainous area in Wales, where there was supposedly no mobile coverage before. As the test shows, the video quality during the call was not the best, but the connection itself seems stable.