NOW Telecom Company Inc. (NOW Telecom), an associate of NOW Corporation, has partnered with global satellite firm AST & Science LLC to improve its communications solutions and connectivity service.

The two parties signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) to seal the partnership, wherein NOW Telecom can leverage AST’s expertise in global satellite communications to enhance its telecom infrastructure.

It also aims to bring telecom services such as voice, video, data, and internet, to urban and remote areas in the country, especially underserved communities that cannot be reached by traditional land-based satellites, which will be particularly helpful in allowing on-demand services during disaster and emergency scenarios.

"Every Filipino could connect his mobile phone from anywhere nationwide through NOW partner AST's single cell site in the Sky,” said NOW Telecom Chairman Mel Velarde.  

The firm said that the strategic initiative “brings both a fundamental and transformative impact on the lives of many Filipinos, uniting people of the archipelago and linking them to the world's largest interconnected machine: the Internet.”

As part of AST’s goal of building a global broadband cellular network in space, the network is “designed to operate in Low Earth Orbit (LEO),” and aims to provide “seamless connectivity that can be directly accessed by standard mobile phones without needing specialized hardware.”

NOW holds a mobile telecommunications system license from the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) to operate in outer space.

The partnership with AST is also in line with NOW’s ongoing development of its Trusted Network initiative that pools together trusted vendors in the telecommunication industry in the country.