• SES plots merger of D2D hopefuls Lynk Global and Omnispace
• EXA Infrastructure invests in key European route
• AT&T’s Q3 sales go up but its operating profit dips

In today’s industry news roundup: Direct-to-device hopefuls Lynk Global and Omnispace plan an SES-approved (shotgun?) marriage; AT&T reports increases in its revenues, post-paid mobile, fibre broadband and fixed wireless access (FWA) broadband subscriber numbers for the third quarter; pan-European operator EXA Infrastructure follows its vague financing announcement with news of investment in the busy Marseille-Paris route; and much more!  

Lynk Global, the low-earth orbit (LEO) satellite firm that aims to enable direct-to-device (D2D) communications from its constellation of “cell towers in space”, has bounced back from its failed effort to become a listed company by announcing its intention to merge with Omnispace, another company with D2D aspirations. Lynk Global had planned to merge with Slam Corp, a publicly traded special purpose acquisition company [SPAC], but following a lengthy war of words and legal threats, it announced the “mutual termination” of the agreement in July. With one merger plan scrapped, Lynk Global has moved on to another (which smacks of desperate measures, to be quite frank). However, this M&A gambit looks to have firmer foundations, as it has the blessing and long-term support of satellite giant SES, which is a shareholder in both companies. (Which, to a cynical eye, might look like a shotgun wedding…) “Following the merger, SES will become a major strategic shareholder, facilitating a robust deployment of D2D and IoT [internet of things] services for mobile network operator, enterprise and government customers as part of a multi-orbit, multispectrum network architecture,” stated Lynk Global in this announcement. SES plans to provide the merged company with access to its multi-orbit network and globally deployed ground infrastructure and will also “support the engineering, operations and regulatory needs of the combined entity. The partnership will enable SES to enhance current services for its customers around the world, including those in the mobile telecom, automotive and government sectors,” added Lynk Global. So what do the two companies bring to the merger table? Omnispace currently has only a couple of LEO satellites in orbit, but it brings significant spectrum licence assets to the proposed merged company, as it has 60 MHz of globally coordinated S-band spectrum – airwaves dedicated for satellite transmission in the 2GHz to 4GHz frequency range – that is optimised for D2D services and, if utilised, would reach more than 1 billion people across the Americas, Europe, Africa and Asia. Lynk Global, meanwhile, has five LEO satellites in orbit that can enable voice and messaging services to smartphones and IoT devices all over the world: It plans to use Omnispace’s S-band spectrum to “offer a step-change in its data, voice and messaging services to new smartphones and IoT devices, including automotive platforms”. Lynk added that its relationships with more than 50 mobile network operators across more than 50 countries “will see significant benefit from the enhanced D2D offering”. Ram Viswanathan, Omnispace’s president and CEO, stated: “This merger unlocks the full potential of our global S-band spectrum assets and positions us at the forefront of D2D. By combining Omnispace’s spectrum portfolio with Lynk’s innovative technology, we’re creating a powerful platform for scalable, cost-effective global D2D that will serve the immediate connectivity needs of customers and has the spectrum to enhance capacity over time.” That may be so, but like nearly every other D2D hopeful out there – and there are a lot of them – a combined Lynk/Omnispace would be playing catch-up with Starlink, the giant LEO constellation that is part of Elon Musk’s SpaceX and which already has commercial D2D services provisioned with T-Mobile US (T-Satellite).  

Still in the D2D sector… Giant geostationary satellite firm Viasat recently completed a “first-of-its-kind D2D demonstration” in Mexico, showcasing the feasibility of satellite-to-cell phone connectivity in the country. Using standard “mass market” Android smartphones and 3GPP non-terrestrial network (NTN) standards-compliant radio access network (RAN) and mobile core technology from partner Skylo, SMS text messages were sent and received via Viasat’s I-4 F3 satellite. The satellite operator also tested SMS and push-to-talk services via its constellation using the HMD Offgrid device, which is designed for satellite connectivity. “Viasat’s approach of using already licensed and dedicated satellite spectrum can enable it to work with mobile network operators to provide services in the future without sacrificing or interfering with terrestrial networks,” noted the satellite operator, which has already completed successful D2D demonstrations in India, the Middle East, Brazil and Hawaii. Hector Rivero, general manager of Viasat Mexico, said: “Expanding our D2D innovation to Mexico demonstrates the potential it holds for the entire region. This technology has the ability to bridge the connectivity gap in areas where traditional services are unreliable or non-existent, opening up possibilities for millions of individuals and devices to connect through satellite. We are confident that this will have significant advantages for consumers and various industries worldwide and we are thrilled to collaborate with our partners to bring it to fruition. Through this, we remain dedicated to our mission of connecting the unconnected.” The trials in Mexico come in the wake of Viasat’s announcement that it is forming a joint venture with United Arab Emirates (UAE)-based spacetech firm Space42 that will adopt a “towerco infrastructure model” to offer wholesale D2D connectivity around the world to third-party service providers – see Viasat, Space42 prep D2D joint venture. 

AT&T reported a 1.5% year-on-year increase in communications services revenues to $29.52bn but a 0.8% dip in operating profit to $7.1bn for the third quarter that closed at the end of September. As part of that total, mobility services revenues grew by 3.1% to $21.7bn and consumer wireline services revenues grew by 4.1% to $3.56bn, but business wireline services revenues slumped by 7.8% to $4.25bn. AT&T ended September with 90.76 million mobile phone customers, of which 73.8 million were postpaid customers, up by 405,000 during the quarter. It also ended the three-month period with 14.5 million broadband customers, of which 10.12 million were fibre broadband customers (up by 288,000 during the quarter) and 1.28 million were AT&T Internet Air fixed wireless access (FWA) customers, an increase of 270,000 during the quarter. AT&T ended September with just over 4.2 million ‘converged customers’ who get their fibre broadband and mobility services from the operator. “We have the key building blocks in place to give our customers the best connectivity experience in the industry and we’re winning the race to lead in convergence,” stated AT&T chairman and CEO John Stankey in this earnings announcement. “We continue to add highly profitable customers that are choosing AT&T for all their connectivity needs on the country’s fastest and largest wireless and fibre networks. It’s clear our differentiated investment-led strategy is working, and we remain on track to achieve all of our 2025 consolidated financial guidance,” he added. 

Alternative pan-European long-distance network operator EXA Infrastructure has been busy in the past few days. Most recently, it announced a “major” but unspecified investment in the diversity and capacity of its network between Marseille and Paris. “For more than 15 years, the Marseille-Paris corridor has represented a key bottleneck for data traffic moving between southern Europe, North Africa and the rest of the continent,” noted the operator before boasting that its “latest investment removes this long-standing constraint”. Steve Roberts, senior VP of network investments and products at EXA Infrastructure, stated: “Enhancing network diversity and removing long-standing constraints like the Marseille-Paris corridor is central to our mission of delivering a more resilient and scalable digital infrastructure for Europe. This investment directly supports the needs of hyperscalers, AI and HPC [high-performance computing] providers, and enterprise customers who depend on high-performance, low-latency connectivity.” News of the investment came only days after the operator issued a press release to note it had “refinanced its existing facilities and raised new financing… to support continued growth ambitions and network expansion plans”, which include “M&A ambitions”: Earlier this year, EXA Infrastructure announced the acquisition of subsea network operator Aqua Comms for the cut-price sum of just $54m. The company noted in its rather vague financing announcement that the combined value of the refinanced debt and new investment is €1.3bn but didn’t break that number down into its constituent parts or provide any insight into the terms of its refinancing agreements. Let’s hope for more clarity from the operator in the future. 

Another D2D hopeful, AST SpaceMobile, is raising $1bn by issuing convertible debt notes “in a private offering to persons reasonably believed to be qualified institutional buyers”. AST SpaceMobile recently announced it is on course to launch satellite-to-smartphone services in 2026 with Verizon following an expansion of the strategic agreement the two companies struck last year. 

Having axed its CEO Markus Haas earlier this month, Telefónica Deutschland (aka O2 Telefónica) has reportedly reignited its interest in forging a commercial partnership with, or even acquiring, Germany’s fourth mobile operator, 1&1, according to German business newspaper Handelsblatt (subscription required), which puts a value on 1&1 of between €5bn and €5.4bn. The relationship between O2 Telefónica and 1&1 was strained under Haas’s leadership, especially after 1&1 ended its wholesale mobile agreement with O2 Telefónica and signed up instead with Vodafone Germany. Now, though, the O2 Telefónica board, led by chairman Peter Löscher, is reportedly keen to forge new ties with 1&1, which has 12.4 million mobile and 3.9 million fixed broadband customers and is majority owned by United Internet, a German tech and communications services company with operations in nine countries (mostly across Europe). 1&1 has been building out its own 5G mobile network across Germany but at a slower-than-expected pace due to technical, supply chain and partner issues. Those challenges have, in turn, put a strain on 1&1’s  operations and financials, so shareholders might welcome a merger with its larger rival. The 1&1 share price has increased by more than 8% to €21.90 since news of O2 Telefónica’s renewed interest was reported. Speculation that Telefónica might make an M&A move on 1&1 is not new: With the giant Spanish telco’s group CEO Marc Murta keen on telco acquisitions that will add scale to the company’s key country operations, rumours are rife that Telefónica could bid to acquire Vodafone Spain in its domestic market and beef up its presence in Germany by swallowing 1&1, as we reported in late August. 

OpenAI has launched ChatGPT Atlas, a web browser powered by its globally popular generative AI (GenAI) application. OpenAI stated in its launch announcement: “AI gives us a rare moment to rethink what it means to use the web. Last year, we added search in ChatGPT so you could instantly find timely information from across the internet – and it quickly became one of our most-used features. But your browser is where all of your work, tools and context come together. A browser built with ChatGPT takes us closer to a true super-assistant that understands your world and helps you achieve your goals.” The browser is designed not only to rival Google’s dominance of the search sector but to help OpenAI generate revenues from the estimated 700 million users that currently use only the free version of ChatGPT, noted seasoned industry analyst Richard Windsor in his latest Radio Free Mobile blog. 

– The staff, TelecomTV