Lynk Global (formerly Ubiquitilink)

[Danderman]

Or maybe a "big guy" in a related field. I haven't had enough coffee this morning to think of one.

[Danderman]

I wonder if buying shares of SLAM now is the same as investing in LYNK - assuming the deal goes through.

I don't know much about SPACs, so its not clear to me what would happen to SLAM's $10 a share price if the deal goes through.

[Danderman]

https://x.com/satsearchco/status/1751545847731396847?s=20

[Danderman]

https://advanced-television.com/2024/01/02/lynk-global-merger-on-hold/

A proposed merger between Slam Corp, backed by former US professional baseball player Alex Rodriguez, and direct-to-smartphone operator Lynk Global, has hit a potential problem.

A Slam letter sent on December 18th 2023 had notified investors of the merger plan with Lynk, but also requested an extension from the current February 2024 deadline to complete the investment and merger.

A Slam filing to the SEC on December 27th 2023 said that an initial extension request to January 25th 2024 to either conclude the merger or to return shareholder funds has been agreed.

[Danderman]

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/slam-corp-lynk-global-inc-130000145.html

Slam Corp. and Lynk Global, Inc. Announce Definitive Business Combination Agreement

Note that this doesn't mean the deal is complete, lots of steps to go.

[TrevorMonty]

I wonder if buying shares of SLAM now is the same as investing in LYNK - assuming the deal goes through.

I don't know much about SPACs, so its not clear to me what would happen to SLAM's $10 a share price if the deal goes through.

If history of other space SPAC shares is anything to go by, your $10 will be <$5 within a  year. Quite a few have gone under or heading that way. Unless company has reasonable revenue stream before going public I'd be very wary. 

[Danderman]

You are correct, the history of space SPACs is not good.

I have read through the SLAM SEC filings, and they state that they believe this deal will result in significant additional investment. If that money comes, LYNK will be okay.

[Danderman]

https://spacenews.com/lynk-global-finalizes-spac-merger-deal/

More on the deal.

[Danderman]

The LYNK investor deck is now available on Edgar:

https://www.sec.gov/ixviewer/ix.html?doc=/Archives/edgar/data/1838162/000119312524023614/d762554d8k.htm

Cash flow projections, the usual investor stuff.

Disclosure: I bought a little SLAM stock today, solely on the hope that the publicity from the merger will cause a small uptick in the stock price.

[Tywin]

I am in on AST, but maybe buy some Lynk too...

[Danderman]

I read through the SEC filings from SLAM, and have no clear idea what they mean. From what I gather, they intend the resulting company to have a market valuation of $1 billion+, based on additional financing coming Real Soon Now.

[Danderman]

There are GEO based smartphone to satellite providers emerging now, using existing GEO birds. No idea about the technology, I can't imagine that any transmit on traditional smartphone frequencies, so they must use frequencies that some cellphones can access, but telephone companies don't use. This requires the satellite operator to have a license for that frequency in any target market. Maybe its the satellite to ground station downlink frequency.

[DanClemmensen]

There are GEO based smartphone to satellite providers emerging now, using existing GEO birds. No idea about the technology, I can't imagine that any transmit on traditional smartphone frequencies, so they must use frequencies that some cellphones can access, but telephone companies don't use. This requires the satellite operator to have a license for that frequency in any target market. Maybe its the satellite to ground station downlink frequency.

Reference, please? 5G and other smartphone protocols are a whole lot more complicated than just a frequency specification, and the physics of sending enough energy from a smartphone to a GEO satellite is hard to imagine.

[Danderman]

There are GEO based smartphone to satellite providers emerging now, using existing GEO birds. No idea about the technology, I can't imagine that any transmit on traditional smartphone frequencies, so they must use frequencies that some cellphones can access, but telephone companies don't use. This requires the satellite operator to have a license for that frequency in any target market. Maybe its the satellite to ground station downlink frequency.

Reference, please? 5G and other smartphone protocols are a whole lot more complicated than just a frequency specification, and the physics of sending enough energy from a smartphone to a GEO satellite is hard to imagine.

https://www.skylo.tech/

[DanClemmensen]

There are GEO based smartphone to satellite providers emerging now, using existing GEO birds. No idea about the technology, I can't imagine that any transmit on traditional smartphone frequencies, so they must use frequencies that some cellphones can access, but telephone companies don't use. This requires the satellite operator to have a license for that frequency in any target market. Maybe its the satellite to ground station downlink frequency.

Reference, please? 5G and other smartphone protocols are a whole lot more complicated than just a frequency specification, and the physics of sending enough energy from a smartphone to a GEO satellite is hard to imagine.

https://www.skylo.tech/

Thanks. The systems they already support are very low data rate and are specialized hardware, not smartphones. 3GPP to smartphones is "coming soon" and will require a firmware upgrade for the phone. Not sure how that will work, but it is highly unlikely to change the frequencies, and there should be no need to do so anyway. I will wait until they actually offer the product.

[Danderman]

There are GEO based smartphone to satellite providers emerging now, using existing GEO birds. No idea about the technology, I can't imagine that any transmit on traditional smartphone frequencies, so they must use frequencies that some cellphones can access, but telephone companies don't use. This requires the satellite operator to have a license for that frequency in any target market. Maybe its the satellite to ground station downlink frequency.

Reference, please? 5G and other smartphone protocols are a whole lot more complicated than just a frequency specification, and the physics of sending enough energy from a smartphone to a GEO satellite is hard to imagine.

https://www.skylo.tech/

Thanks. The systems they already support are very low data rate and are specialized hardware, not smartphones. 3GPP to smartphones is "coming soon" and will require a firmware upgrade for the phone. Not sure how that will work, but it is highly unlikely to change the frequencies, and there should be no need to do so anyway. I will wait until they actually offer the product.

If a GEO comsat could transmit in a frequency licensed by a cellular company for use by smartphones outside of cellular coverage, its very likely that the transmissions would interfere with terrestrial cell tower signal. That's a major no-no.

I would guess that the GEO comsat would service cellphones via frequences outside licensed cellular bands, maybe L band.

[DanClemmensen]

There are GEO based smartphone to satellite providers emerging now, using existing GEO birds. No idea about the technology, I can't imagine that any transmit on traditional smartphone frequencies, so they must use frequencies that some cellphones can access, but telephone companies don't use. This requires the satellite operator to have a license for that frequency in any target market. Maybe its the satellite to ground station downlink frequency.

Reference, please? 5G and other smartphone protocols are a whole lot more complicated than just a frequency specification, and the physics of sending enough energy from a smartphone to a GEO satellite is hard to imagine.

https://www.skylo.tech/

Thanks. The systems they already support are very low data rate and are specialized hardware, not smartphones. 3GPP to smartphones is "coming soon" and will require a firmware upgrade for the phone. Not sure how that will work, but it is highly unlikely to change the frequencies, and there should be no need to do so anyway. I will wait until they actually offer the product.

If a GEO comsat could transmit in a frequency licensed by a cellular company for use by smartphones outside of cellular coverage, its very likely that the transmissions would interfere with terrestrial cell tower signal. That's a major no-no.

I would guess that the GEO comsat would service cellphones via frequences outside licensed cellular bands, maybe L band.

"L-band" is 1000 to 2000 Mhz.
    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/L_band
LTE uses a whole complicated set of frequencies between about 600 Mhz and 5000 Mhz, depending on the country and the cell provider.
    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LTE_(telecommunication)#Frequency_bands
Depending on the phone, some phones operate across multiple subsets of the LTE frequencies and their RF sections could be tuned to other frequencies within the L-band. I suspect that this is why Skylo has a phone compatibility list.

Cell phones are nearly omnidirectional: the transmitted energy spreads in all directions. This means the energy that hits any particular satellite is a tiny percentage of the transmitted energy. Thus, the uplink will be extremely low data rate.

[Tywin]

But maybe enough for SOS and message?

[TrevorMonty]

But maybe enough for SOS and message?

While messaging in emergency is great option, there still no substitute for EPIRB. Push button and it will transmit your location continuously for few hours or days while being very rugged and waterproof.

Worry is lot people will treat remote ph coverage as substitute for a EPIRB when their activity really does justify carrying an  EPIRB.

[Danderman]

https://en.shiftdelete.net/turkcell-lynk-partnership/

Turkcell announced a partnership agreement with Lynk, a leading satellite communication company, aiming to provide mobile services via satellites. At the Mobile World Congress (MWC), the world’s largest mobile technology event held in Barcelona, Turkcell revealed plans to collaborate with Lynk on trials for delivering SMS, voice, and data services directly to phones via satellites.