Imagine, your smartphone could soon connect to a satellite

Trekking through the wilderness? Road tripping across a Japanese desert? Or even taking a trip to a remote island? Rakuten Mobile users may soon have a cell signal in these once disconnected domains.

“Connectivity is a necessity no matter where you are.”

Mickey Mikitani, Chairman and CEO, Rakuten Group

At a press conference last month, Rakuten Group CEO Mickey Mikitani spoke about an exciting future prospect for Rakuten Mobile: direct satellite to smartphone connectivity.

The story began back in March 2020 – shortly before the launch of Rakuten Mobile’s historic network – when Mikitani announced a major investment into AST SpaceMobile, a new startup with a bold vision.

“You will no longer need to have a large satellite phone – just your regular smartphone,” Mikitani told journalists. “We are hoping to launch this service commercially in 2026.”

Your smartphone could become a satellite phone

Satellite phones are far from a new idea, but not everyone is warm to the idea of lugging around a brick-sized device wherever they go. AST SpaceMobile could offer something new: cell coverage, but provided by low earth orbit satellites.

“This service is significantly different from other satellite connectivity services, both in philosophy and in structure,” commented Mikitani.

AST SpaceMobile’s satellites are designed to be the largest-ever commercial communications array deployed in low-Earth orbit.

The large phased-array antennas work together to electronically form, steer, and shape wireless communication beams into cells of coverage – just like the kind that cell towers and other cell sites provide.

“In this journey, we have achieved what we believe is a human right – the ability to connect any phone, regardless of the type of phone, directly to space at broadband speeds.”

Abel Avellan, CEO, AST SpaceMobile

AST SpaceMobile’s planned service in Japan would utilize Rakuten’s frequency spectrum to directly link everyday smartphones or other cellular devices to the AST SpaceMobile planned satellites. The satellite then connects to a terrestrial gateway that will connect to Rakuten’s infrastructure. The idea is to be open to all kinds of devices – from phones to IoT, wearables and even cars – something Rakuten Mobile’s highly-flexible virtualized network is well positioned to handle.

Connectivity even in times of disaster

“Rakuten Mobile has achieved a population coverage of 99.9%, including roaming services,” Mikitani explained. “For the most part, Japan’s mobile carriers – even with this level of population coverage – only have a geographical coverage of around 70%. That means that 30% of the country does not have connectivity. With AST SpaceMobile, we want to achieve a geographical coverage of 100%.”

The service will only switch on when a user’s phone can’t receive a ground signal: “When using Rakuten Mobile’s regular mobile network, it will of course default to our network on the ground and switch to the satellite network when needed” Mikitani added. “And we are planning for the switch to be seamless.”

Disaster preparedness is another major advantage to satellite connectivity, Mikitani highlighted.

“During times of emergency, satellite connectivity could be concentrated on specific disaster areas. What this means is that we can have immediate connectivity through satellites, without needing to rely on cell sites on the ground.”

A long and fruitful partnership

AST SpaceMobile CEO Abel Avellan joined Mikitani at the conference to talk about the journey so far and his vision for the coming years.

“It has been a journey that has been technological, partnerships, geographical, and more importantly a journey to solve a real problem, which is how to connect the unconnected,” he said. “In this journey, we have achieved what we believe is a human right – the ability to connect any phone, regardless of the type of phone, directly to space at broadband speeds.”

Avellan emphasized that AST satellites should have the capability to benefit anyone with a wireless device.

“Of course, they are designed to provide connectivity directly to any type of smartphone – Apple iOS, Android – but also any other kind of device: IoT, wearables, cars, airplanes – anything that will benefit from a low-cost broadband connection from space.”

AST SpaceMobile has partnered with a number of major global carriers, including AT&T and Vodafone. But Avellan praised the special nature of his company’s relationship with innovation-oriented Rakuten Mobile.

“Here in Japan, we’ve had an exclusive and long-term relationship with Rakuten Mobile. Rakuten Mobile was one of our founding investors.”

In just four years, the partnership has produced astonishing results, with world-first trials involving satellites and regular smartphones. In September 2022, the company launched BlueWalker 3, the largest communications array ever to be deployed to low earth orbit, and there are plans for the next generation to be even bigger.

“We did the first ever phone call from the USA to Japan using AT&T US spectrum to connect directly from space to Japan using voice,” Avellan boasted. “We have also done LTE connectivity and 5G connectivity.”

A trial within Japan is also planned for the near future.

The company’s philosophy of total transparency and innovation, driven by a mission for connectivity, has proved a perfect match for Rakuten Mobile.

“This is a very innovative project that is basically designed to disrupt how people connect and how people get access to broadband connectivity, regardless of where they are and regardless of the phone they have in their pocket.”