AST SpaceMobile secures Brazil spectrum for direct-to-device service

By Amara Osei

AST SpaceMobile has secured Anatel authorisation for 30 MHz of S-band spectrum and secondary use of up to 20 MHz in the 700 MHz band. Four regional operators and four planned gateways support the Brazilian rollout.

Anatel's authorisation covers 15+15 MHz of S-band spectrum. Its separate approval allows secondary use of up to 10+10 MHz in 700 MHz within participating operators' respective licensed areas.

The company said agreements with four regional mobile network operators underpin plans for ground infrastructure and “connect-anywhere” service in Brazil. Brazil has more than 200 million handset lines. The plan pairs four physical gateways with that market, which is architecture rather than coverage.

What has Anatel actually authorised?

Anatel has authorised AST SpaceMobile to use 30 MHz of S-band spectrum in Brazil and secondary 700 MHz spectrum held by terrestrial operators. The two permissions differ: S-band is the company's direct authorisation, while the 700 MHz arrangement depends on participating licensees' areas.

AST SpaceMobile said the combined resources “strengthen its ability to deliver space-based cellular broadband across Brazil.” The company says that reach can carry voice calls, broadband data and video streaming directly to standard, unmodified smartphones beyond terrestrial coverage.

That is the service claim, rather than a measured network result. The announcement provides no launch date, coverage footprint, throughput, subscriber target, gateway schedule or terms for the four operator agreements.

Spectrum clears the regulatory gate; it does not build the network. Service still depends on deploying satellite capacity and ground infrastructure, completing operator integration, and securing device compatibility and commercial arrangements.

Who will support the Brazilian rollout?

AST SpaceMobile has signed agreements with four regional operators, which will work with its existing Brazilian mobile network operator partners. Together, the company says, they can support expansion toward nationwide service and reach millions of people who remain unconnected or underconnected.

The company also counts a global network of more than 60 mobile network operator partnerships serving over three billion subscribers combined. It presents those relationships as multiple routes to market, pairing operators' local reach and established customer relationships with satellite coverage beyond terrestrial limits.

No Brazilian operator names, subscriber commitments or commercial terms accompany the announcement. For now, the four agreements establish a route to market without fixing the economics.

What will the four gateways do?

AST SpaceMobile plans to invest in four gateways in Brazil as the physical link between space and terrestrial networks. The facilities will connect the company's BlueBird satellite network with mobile operators' networks and route voice, video and broadband traffic between them.

AST describes the BlueBird satellites as the largest ever deployed in low Earth orbit. That comparison comes from the company, and the announcement gives no independent capacity or throughput figures for Brazil.

Planning is under way for deployment and integration with participating operators. AST said availability will expand “as satellite capacity and ground infrastructure are deployed and network integration progresses.”

The company also keeps the usual escape clauses: all applicable authorisations, compatible devices and commercial arrangements remain necessary. Those conditions matter because authorisation, construction and commercial service are separate milestones.

The next checkpoints are gateway investment, operator integration, satellite capacity, further authorisations, device compatibility and commercial agreements. Brazil now has spectrum and a plan, but it does not yet have a service date.