|
On 30 January 2025, Vodafone reported that it had conducted what it described as the world’s first video call via satellite using a standard, unmodified smartphone, placing the call from a remote location in the Welsh mountains to Chief Executive Margherita Della Valle. The demonstration used AST SpaceMobile’s BlueBird satellites in LEO, and Vodafone indicated plans to begin rolling out customer service across Europe later in 2025 and into 2026.
According to the company’s account, the call formed part of a broader program to extend coverage to areas without terrestrial signal. Vodafone said the satellite link could deliver up to 120 Mb/s to ordinary handsets and noted that it is an investor in AST SpaceMobile alongside other industry participants.
The event coincided with the launch of a space-to-land gateway at Vodafone’s U.K. headquarters in Newbury, which receives signals from user devices via satellite and connects them into Vodafone’s core network.
Full Article: IEEE Vehicular Technology Magazine, Volume 20, Number 4, December 2025
| 
