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Vodafone ( VOD ) makes video call via satellite on standard

smartphone

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Signal was routed via partner AST SpaceMobile's ( ASTS ) satellites

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Company aims to launch service across Europe starting

later in

2025

By Paul Sandle

LONDON, Jan 29 (Reuters) - Vodafone ( VOD ) said it had

made the world's first video call via satellite using a standard

smartphone from a remote location, and it plans to roll out the

technology for its users across Europe later this year and in

2026.

The European mobile operator's CEO Margherita Della Valle

received the call on Monday from company engineer Rowan Chesmer,

who was located in the Welsh mountains where there was no

network signal.

"We were using the only satellite service that can offer a

full mobile experience with a normal device, so you get

everything from voice to text to video data transmission, which

is why we did a full video call," Della Valle said in an

interview on Wednesday.

"Our objective is to bring the service to our customers as

soon as possible."

Vodafone ( VOD ) is using AST SpaceMobile's ( ASTS ) five BlueBird satellites

in low-Earth orbit to provide transmission speeds of up to 120

megabits per second for standard smartphones.

The British company is an investor in AST SpaceMobile ( ASTS )

, alongside AT&T, Verizon, Google and others.

Mobile operators and smartphone makers are racing to deploy

satellite services to close gaps in network coverage.

Apple's devices since iPhone 14 have been able to use

satellites to text emergency services, message friends and

family and share location using low-bandwidth connections.

Rivals including Google and Samsung offer similar services.

T-Mobile U.S. and Elon Musk's SpaceX are testing Starlink

satellites to provide text services, with voice and data to be

added in the future.

Apple's latest iPhones and some Android devices are eligible

to participate, according to T-Mobile.

Della Valle was joined by British astronaut Tim Peake at the

launch of the company's space-to-land gateway at its UK

headquarters in Newbury, west of London.

The gateway receives the signals sent from a user's

smartphone via the satellite and connects them into its core

network.

Peake, who in 2015 became the first Briton to visit the

International Space Station and conduct a spacewalk, said

providing mobile coverage using space-based tech was an

"incredible breakthrough".

"Having spent six months on the space station living in a

pretty remote and isolated environment, that ability to have a

connection with family and friends is incredibly important," he

told Reuters.

Peake, 52, who spent 186 days in space, said if another

opportunity to join a mission came up, he would "put his hand in

the air".