Asia-Pacific and Emerging Markets
Where outside North America and Europe will direct-to-device matter most, and who is serving those markets?
Chapter summary
The largest number of people who could benefit from D2D live in Asia, Africa and Latin America, where terrestrial coverage gaps are widest and incomes lower.
Key takeaways
- 1
Early adoption, however, has come in rich, sparsely populated countries with large rural areas: Australia, New Zealand, Canada, Japan and Chile, whose operators signed with Starlink and AST early.
- 2
China is building its own systems (Chapter 20); India has not yet authorised D2D in mobile bands; and in Africa and Latin America the binding constraints are regulation, phone affordability and willingness to pay.
- 3
The global coverage gap is large, about 3.5 billion people did not use mobile internet in 2024 according to GSMA, but most of them live within range of a tower; satellites address the smaller group outside coverage altogether.
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