Everyone suddenly discovered spectrum is oxygen. After a year of solemn talks about “partnering with MNOs” and “proofs of concept,” the D2D crowd sprinted toward MSS like it held the only lifeboats. Starlink solved its problem with a $17 billion shopping trip, which tends to concentrate minds. AST SpaceMobile stitched together L-band from Ligado and is waving S-band priority rights around like a backstage pass. Our newly announced duo decided to merge and borrow SES’s lungs. It is not subtle.
Lynk brings the one thing everyone pretends they already have, live service on real phones with real operators. The catalog is not glamorous, but it includes working calls with MTN and field tests with Turkcell, plus a long tail of “commercial agreements” that lawyers will happily debate. This is the reliable used truck in a parking lot full of concept cars.
