NetOne Just Partnered with a Starlink Rival — Let’s Break Down What That Means

You might have heard the news. NetOne partnered with a U.S. company called AST Space Mobile to introduce 5G connectivity in Zimbabwe.

They say the collaboration focuses on bridging the digital divide, especially in remote areas.

All to serve that goal of ensuring that all Zimbabweans have access to reliable and fast mobile internet services. That’s a goal we can all get behind.

AST SpaceMobile will utilise low orbit satellites to provide cellular connectivity without the need for extensive infrastructure, making it easier to reach hard-to-access regions.

You might be thinking, this sounds a lot like Starlink’s Direct-to-Cell product. Yes, AST’s solution this will compete directly with it. You love to see this, we need Starlink competitors to thrive so that we aren’t beholden to a single company.

NetOne’s CEO, Raphael Mushanawani, says the commitment is to provide equal communication experiences for all customers, regardless of their location.

Hence why we all collectively implored our government to license Starlink and its competitors. We are grateful that happened, regardless of the circumstances under which we got it.

AST SpaceMobile aims to deliver universal connectivity through innovative satellite solutions, with significant industry partnerships already established.

AST SpaceMobile

Just so we are not sold pipe dreams, it behooves us to talk about the company that would supposedly bring 5G via satellite to the farthest reaches of Zimbabwe on NetOne’s network.

The company was founded back in 2017 and seems to be legit.

AST SpaceMobile is building out a space-based cellular broadband network designed to connect directly to standard 4G and 5G smartphones without requiring any additional hardware like satellite dishes or terminals.

Unlike traditional satellite internet services such as Starlink, which require specialised ground equipment, AST SpaceMobile’s technology enables direct communication between satellites and everyday mobile phones. ​

As mentioned above, Starlink’s Direct-to-Cell also enables enables direct communication between satellites and everyday mobile phones. ​

As you would imagine, this innovation is particularly beneficial for mobile network operators like NetOne. By partnering with AST SpaceMobile, NetOne aims to extend its coverage to remote and hard-to-reach areas without the need to build extensive ground infrastructure.

This not only reduces the costs associated with deploying physical base stations but also speeds up the rollout of high-speed internet across the country.

There’s gonna be some waiting

Though still impressive, AST SpaceMobile has only launched 5 satellites to date. Starlink has thousands but don’t let that fool you into thinking AST is playing games.

AST needs fewer satellites because each one covers more area. Each AST satellite (like their BlueWalker 3) has a huge antenna (64m²). The closest thing to that so you can visualise, is a tennis court, so yeah, that’s one big satellite.

AST has permission to launch up to 250 satellites for full global coverage. These tennis court-sized satellites that also orbit far higher than Starlink’s (550km vs 700km) will be enough for global coverage.

Starlink uses smaller satellites with focused beams designed to deliver fast internet to individual terminals. This means Starlink needs many more satellites to cover the globe.

We should also note that AST’s satellites handle less bandwidth per user.

So, technically speaking, although the NetOne announcement talks about the partnership bringing 5G speeds across the country, in reality, it’s more like LTE speeds.

However, AST’s next-generation satellites will increase capacity. AST says they will will enable peak data transmission speeds of up to 120 Mbps, supporting voice, full data, and video applications.

That’s all in the future though because AST only has 5 satellites in orbit today. They are currently building 17 extra satellites and have launch agreements in place with SpaceX and Jeff Bezos’s Blue Origin to launch up to 60 craft.

The other good news is that they have tested their stuff.

The company demonstrated space-based 5G connectivity by placing a call from Hawaii, USA, to a Vodafone engineer in Madrid, Spain, using AT&T spectrum and AST SpaceMobile’s BlueWalker 3 test satellite.

The 5G call was placed on September 8, 2023, from an unmodified Samsung Galaxy S22 smartphone located in a wireless dead zone.

In a separate test, the company broke its previous space-based cellular broadband data session record by achieving a download rate of approximately 14 Mbps.

That would still be huge in Zimbabwe’s rural areas. So, let’s hope AST finds a way to accelerate progress because we need this service, through NetOne, like yesterday.