We could all soon be video chatting from remote mountain dead zones
We could all soon be video chatting from remote mountain dead zones
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Vodafone has made the world’s first mobile satellite video call from a place with no signal, saying this could soon let users chat from anywhere. The group’s chief executive accepted a call from what was previously a ‘dead zone’ in the middle of Wales.
![[EMB 22.00: Vodafone 'beats Elon Musk' with first satellite video call via space in Europe]](https://metro.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/SEI_237811069-7165.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&w=646)
Sitting next to his dog on a dark and rainy mountain, engineer Rowan Chesner chatted to Margherita Della Valle back at base on Monday morning. It’s part of the company’s rollout of satellite internet, which they aim will be up and running for customers across the UK by the end of this year.
![[EMB 22.00: Vodafone 'beats Elon Musk' with first satellite video call via space in Europe getty/ metro.co.uk]](https://metro.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/SEI_237823939-cf67.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&w=646)
They unveiled the first ‘space to land gateway’ in Europe today, and cheekily pointed out that means they have beaten Elon Musk, who has only sent satellite text messages here so far, and made his satellite video call last year from a place already served by terrestrial internet.
Luke Ibbetson, head of R&D at Vodafone, told Metro that their new tech ‘will bring an end to the blackspots where you can’t get mobile signal.’. To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video.
Up Next. While it is not intended to replace standard terrestrial service, and will not be as effective indoors, it will be a big change for places that are currently not served at all by internet data, acting as a sort of phone mast in the sky. ‘We’re talking very remote areas of mountains and also at sea, where you wouldn’t normally expect to receive a signal,’ Luke explained.
