STC and AST SpaceMobile Forge Satellite Connectivity Revolution in Middle East

Editorial Team

Last updated 30-10-2025

3 min

Saudi telecoms giant STC partners with AST SpaceMobile to revolutionise connectivity in the Middle East.

Customers will make calls and access data directly from satellites with their smartphones.

STC will be the main operator, initially in Saudi Arabia, under local regulatory frameworks.

AST SpaceMobile grants exclusive service rights to STC in several countries, including Libya and Syria.

The partnership could greatly enhance connectivity for entrepreneurs in North Africa and the Levant.

Saudi telecoms giant STC has just sealed a strategic partnership with the US-based company AST SpaceMobile — and it could mark a major leap forward for how people connect across the Middle East and Africa. The idea is fairly straightforward yet ambitious: instead of relying purely on ground networks, customers will soon be able to make calls and access data directly from satellites, using their regular smartphones. No bulky satellite phones, no special gear — just the same device in your pocket.

From what’s been shared publicly, STC is set to act as the main operator for this service in Saudi Arabia, working within local regulatory frameworks. The company also plans to roll it out both to individual consumers and through wholesale agreements with other telecom operators, including virtual ones. That’s quite a clever way to scale things quickly.

AST SpaceMobile, on the other hand, is offering STC exclusive rights to run these services in countries such as Libya, Syria, Lebanon, Djibouti, Tunisia, and Sudan. It’s even throwing in preferential terms for markets like Kuwait, Oman, Yemen, Bahrain, Jordan, Iraq, Algeria, Morocco, and Egypt. I reckon this gives STC a rather enviable footprint across the region — one that could make traditional coverage gaps a thing of the past.

I still remember when some founders I met at an Arageek event in Riyadh moaned about losing signal on long drives through the desert. It’s one of those issues many of us just accept, but it’s a right pain if you’re trying to build or monitor a business on the move. So hearing about this particular partnership feels, well… spot on.

That said, satellite connections aren’t always a walk in the park. Speeds can vary, costs can creep up, and getting everything to sync with existing infrastructure can be a bit of a faff. But if STC and AST SpaceMobile pull it off, it might just redraw the map of regional connectivity — especially for startups operating in remote or underserved areas.

And believe it or not, I’m quite chuffed to bits thinking about what this could mean for entrepreneurs in North Africa or the Levant. A startup founder in Tripoli could have the same quality of connection as one in Dubai — that’s definately something worth watching closely.

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