Abel Avellan

AST SpaceMobile (@AST_SpaceMobile) is a Texas-based LEO satellite manufacturer, building the first and only space-based cellular broadband network to be accessible by standard smartphones called SpaceMobile. AST SpaceMobile’s investors are Rakuten, Vodafone, American Tower, SamsungNEXT, Cisneros and the company founder, Chairman and CEO Abel Avellan (@AbelAvellan). For more information on SpaceMobile go to www. ast-science.com. Mr. Avellan was the founder and CEO of Emerging Markets Communications (EMC) until its sale for US$550M in June 2016. Under his management, EMC was ranked for several years as the fastest growing satellite service provider in the world and became a global leading provider of mission-critical content and connectivity for the main mobility and hard-to-reach markets. Mr. Avellan is co-inventor of 24 U.S. patented technologies, including: • Technological processes of satellite communications with applications on satellite bandwidth re-utilization and reduction of antenna sizes for mobility applications • HD video conferencing over satellite • Cloud-based browsing over satellite • New high-throughput satellite platforms for GEO, MEO and LEO satellites • SpaceMobile Direct to UE satellite system Mr. Avellan has been the recipient of several industry awards, including Strategic Satellite Transaction of the Year for the acquisition of MTN in 2015 and Satellite Teleport Executive of the Year in 2017. In 2024 he was appointed as a Commissioner to the ITU/UNESCO Broadband Commission for Sustainable Development.