Weekly Brief – Friday 19th June

Some news bits here that might be of interest from this week.

Opensignal ranks the UK last in their European Network Excellence Index

Opensignal has released an analysis of mobile networks across Europe, focusing on the experience of 4G and 5G networks. Of the 29 countries listed, the UK came last. This seems to be largely down to the download speeds received, with the UK reaching only 84Mbps. They note that the countries deploying 5G Standalone (5GSA) at scale are those that do not have the best networks currently – the UK is one of the countries pushing 5GSA rollouts.

Even with large network deployments, it seems that the “Time on 5G SA” is still relatively low, with only 5.2% of users observing time on 5GSA in the UK.

AST SpaceMobile launches 3 satellites successfully

BlueBird 8, 9 and 10 were successfully launched into orbit on Wednesday from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in the UK, onboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket. The three satellites are the largest commercial communications arrays to be deployed in low Earth orbit (LEO).

“Our team has built a new class of space-based cellular broadband technology that connects seamlessly to everyday smartphones. This is a fundamental transformation of how the world connects. We invented this market, and we are executing and advancing our network to make global, space-based cellular broadband a reality.”

Abel Avellan, Founder, Chairman, and CEO of AST SpaceMobile

Vodafone and AST SpaceMobile have a jointly owned business called SatCo, which will be used to serve mobile operators in European markets. This will enable direct-to-device (D2D) services using the AST SpaceMobile LEO network.

Shared Rural Network expands 4G to 140 masts

The shared rural network (SRN), which is a partnership between mobile network operators and the government to improve mobile signal, has announced that 140 masts are now live. 11 4G masts in Wales have been enabled this year, with 4 in Yorkshire and two going live in the rural North East and Cumbria. A total notspot in Scardroy, in the Highlands, around 45km west of Inverness, has also been eliminated with a new mast.

Ofcom announces plans for the 2GHz band to be used for mobile satellite services (direct-to-device)

Two satellite operators, Viasat and Echostar, currently have access to use the 2 GHz band (1980-2010 MHz and 2170-2200 MHz) for Mobile Satellite Services (MSS), and the existing licenses are due to expire in May 2027. Ofcom has launched a new consultation which proposes to allow the current licensees to continue to use this for a transitional period of 3-5 years to allow the services provided to continue to operate. They are also looking at increasing flexibility to allow others to use this spectrum, in particular for Direct-to-Device (D2D) network operators. The consultation runs until the 18th August 2026.