Ofcom to authorise satellite connectivity for standard smartphones

Ofcom has today confirmed that it will move ahead with plans to make the UK the first country in Europe to enable standard smartphones to connect to satellites using mobile spectrum bands.

It means that services could soon be offered in the UK to enable standard smartphones to make calls, send texts and connect to the internet when there is no coverage from mobile masts on the ground, helping to connect the UK's most rural and hard-to-reach places.

The announcement follows a consultation earlier this year in which we proposed several different approaches to authorising this ‘direct to device' technology being used in mobile spectrum bands.

We have decided to authorise these services by introducing a variation to Mobile Network Operators' (MNOs) existing licences. Alongside this, we will also create a new exemption regulation to make it lawful for ordinary users to connect to a satellite in mobile spectrum bands using a standard smartphone.

We are therefore today opening a further consultation seeking views on the conditions we would include in the MNO licence variation, and on our intention to create an exemption to permit mobile handsets and other sim-enabled devices to connect to direct-to-device services.

We welcome responses to our consultation by 10 October 2025.