Satellite company Lynk gained Federal Communications Commission (FCC) approval to use its commercial licenses for satellite-to-mobile device services. The long-awaited authorization enables the company to launch commercial services later this year.

The first satellite covered under the license, “Lynk Tower 1,” was launched on April 1. The company has six satellites currently in orbit and is scheduled to launch three more later this year. 

Lynk was founded by Charles Miller, Margo Deckard, and Tyghe Speidel in 2017. It claims 15 commercial mobile network operator contracts in 36 countries and a reported 240 million current mobile subscribers.

Ten-percent of the earth’s surface is covered by terrestrial mobile connectivity according to the company; Lynk is looking to begin connecting the global “black spots” or “0G” areas across the world. 

“0G is a problem for four billion people. Over three billion people per year with a mobile phone experience extended periods of disconnectivity. Another billion people per year will buy their first phone when there is affordable mobile coverage where they live and work,” the company stated. 

Miller’s focus with the work lies in both bridging digital divide issues and providing connection to-and-between first responders and people in emergency situations. He warned of how “0G blackspots” affect these situations, particularly in natural disaster scenarios taking place in remote, unconnected areas.

“Earlier this year, the volcanic eruption in Tonga demonstrated, as have so many other events, the need for a global ‘instant backup’ system to ensure mobile connectivity, no matter what,” Lynk stated. 

Additionally, Unitel Group CTO Bat-Erdene.G explained that Lynk will play an important step in breaking down the telecommunication sector challenges in Mongolia, where they have been working to increase coverage the entirety of the population – including thousands of nomads living in the Mongolian countryside.