On Tuesday, Oct. 20, Midland, Texas-based AST SpaceMobile (NASDAQ: ASTS) announced that it is advancing service readiness ahead of initial, intermittent coverage in key global markets before the end of 2026, including the United States, Canada, Japan, United Kingdom and Saudi Arabia.
The announcement comes in the wake of a SpaceX (NASDAQ: SPCX) plan to acquire low-band spectrum and boost Starlink Mobile's indoor connectivity—a move that poses a competitive threat to space stocks as well as major telecom providers, including AT&T (NYSE: T) and Verizon (NYSE: VZ), two companies that have strategic partnerships with AST SpaceMobile.