Non-Terrestrial Networks Training | Direct-to-Cell Course

Master what satellite-to-phone connectivity really means for your network, your coverage, and your resilience — in one focused day, explained in plain English.

Direct-to-Cell & Non-Terrestrial Networks

A standard mobile phone just connected to a satellite 500 kilometres above the Earth.

No special handset. No dish. No setup.

That is not a prediction. It is already happening.

The satellite-to-phone service from T-Mobile and Starlink went commercial in July 2025. By early 2026 it was riding on more than 650 satellites. AST SpaceMobile won approval for a 248-satellite constellation in April 2026, backed by AT&T, Verizon and the US emergency-services network. In the UK, a major operator switched on satellite-to-phone coverage for rural users in February 2026.

The dead zone is dying.

So here is the question every network planner, resilience lead and comms manager now has to answer: what does this mean for me?

That is the question this course exists to answer.

This course is part of the Satellite Radio Integration knowledge area on the Yesway site.

Direct to Cell satellite

Who This Course Is For

This course is for the people who have to make decisions about satellite-to-phone connectivity — not the people who build the satellites.

It is written for:

Communications and network managers in utilities, transport, maritime and offshore operations.
Resilience and business-continuity leads who need connectivity that does not fail.
Emergency services, defence and critical-infrastructure teams planning for coverage gaps.
Procurement and strategy professionals being sold “satellite connectivity” who need a straight answer before they buy.
Telecoms professionals who want to understand Non-Terrestrial Networks properly, not in headlines.

You do not need to be a satellite engineer.

You need a working technical grounding and a reason to care about coverage that holds up when everything else drops out.

We explain the physics. We just do not hide behind it.

What You Will Be Able To Do

By the end of the day, you will be able to:

Explain, in plain English, how an ordinary smartphone talks to a satellite — and the physics that makes it difficult.
Tell apart the three things vendors blur together: Direct-to-Cell (D2D), Supplemental Coverage from Space (SCS — using a mobile operator’s own ground spectrum from orbit), and NB-IoT NTN (narrowband satellite connectivity for sensors and machines).
Read the 3GPP standards roadmap (the global rulebook for mobile networks) from Release 17 through to 6G — and explain why “transparent” versus “regenerative” satellites change the whole picture.
Compare the main operators and their very different technical bets, without the sales spin.
Understand the spectrum and regulation that govern the field, including the UK position from Ofcom (the UK communications regulator) and the interference limits that constrain everyone.
Judge honestly what this technology can and cannot do for you — speed, delay, battery life, indoors versus outdoors, text versus voice versus data.
Design a resilient communications approach that blends ground networks, satellite and your existing two-way radio — and ask any vendor the right questions.

The Day, Module by Module

1. Why now — the inflection point. The market in plain numbers. Live services, scaling constellations, real UK coverage. Just imagine a phone that never loses signal — and what that does to how you plan.

2. How it actually works. Orbits, antennas and the link-budget problem. Why a normal handset can reach space at all. Doppler shift, signal delay and the satellite-positioning fix every device now needs — explained without the equations.

3. The standards backbone. 3GPP Non-Terrestrial Networks. Release 17 laid the foundation. Release 18 added higher frequencies and mobility. Release 19 put a complete base station on the satellite itself. Next stop, 6G. Why standardised always beats proprietary in the end.

4. The players and their bets. Many small satellites versus a few enormous ones. LTE versus 5G from space. Single-carrier versus multi-carrier. Who is good at what — and why it matters to your decision. Vendor-neutral throughout.

5. Spectrum and regulation. Using ground spectrum from space. Power limits and interference protection. The UK regulatory position. The real coordination challenges — including the interference concerns the radio community has raised, explained by someone who holds a radio licence.

6. What it can and cannot do for you. The honest engineering. Capacity, delay, battery drain, the indoor problem, and the real path from text to voice to full data. This is the module that changes how you plan.

7. Integration and roadmap. Blending satellite-to-phone with the two-way radio, satellite and control systems you already run. Use cases across critical infrastructure, maritime, emergency services and remote operations. A clear “act now or wait” framework for 2026 to 2028.

Why Yesway

Most training providers teach one half of this picture.

Cellular trainers explain how mobile networks work. Satellite trainers explain dishes and terminals. Resilience consultants understand neither the radio nor the orbit.

This technology lives at the join — where mobile networks meet satellites meet radio engineering. Almost nobody teaches the join.

Yesway does, because Yesway was built on it.

The course is led by Craig Miles — a TEDx speaker on low-Earth-orbit connectivity, with a background spanning aerospace satellite programmes, RF and wireless engineering, and Ofcom licensing. Yesway’s hallmark is simple: complex technology, explained in plain English, with nothing hidden behind jargon.

You will leave able to make decisions, not just nod along to vendors.

Format and Booking

Duration: One day.
Delivery: Live online, or in-house at your site.
Format: A two-day engineer’s version is available, adding link-budget work, signal-handling detail and a deep dive into satellite connectivity for machines and sensors.
Group size: Suited to teams. In-house delivery keeps the examples specific to your operation.
Investment: In-house delivery from £2,750 per day for your whole team. One price, up to ten people. Final quote depends on group size, location and format.

Train your whole team for less than the cost of a single seat elsewhere.

Want this run for your team?

Get a quote or call us to talk through what your operation needs.

Yesway Communications. Radio, satellite and wireless — explained clearly, applied properly.