Vodafone made the first video call via satellite using regular smartphones.
Satellite connectivity is becoming more and more common in many smartphones these days. However, the feature is usually limited to flagship models, which have specific hardware components to allow it. Vodafone, nonetheless, aims to bring the ability to make not just calls but also video calls on any 4G/5G capable smartphone model.
In its recent announcement, the telecommunications company shared the fruit of its latest work in collaboration with AST SpaceMobile, a publicly traded satellite designer and manufacturer based in Texas. In the clip, Vodafone Group CEO Margherita Della Valle and Vodafone R&D Future Technologies Researcher Rowan Chesmer performed a video call using regular smartphone models.
According to Chesmer, the call was performed while he was in a region in Wales where mobile coverage was not available. Della Valle noted that the call was made possible through the AST SpaceMobile’s BlueBird satellites in space and a satellite dish gateway (which “can serve the whole of the UK”), which allows the devices to establish a connection.
Vodafone is one of the companies that invested in AST SpaceMobile, which has also made an impressive demo in the past. To recall, AST SpaceMobile successfully performed a 5G voice and data connection between an unmodified Samsung Galaxy S22 and its BlueWalker 3 test satellite in 2023. In the video shared by the company, it was demonstrated how the company’s engineers made a call to an engineer in Madrid, Spain, while in a cellular dead zone in Maui, Hawaii. Aside from this, the company has also managed to attain a download rate of approximately 14Mbps in a separate space-based cellular broadband data session test. AST also performed a successful test for space-based voice calls using regular smartphones during the said year.
