nication has huge potential to extend the reach of the internet for all. See Figure 16.1 for related statistics. As many as 1 million new smartphones per day get introduced to users globally. 5G and Satellite Communications OCT 2022 OVERVIEW OF INTERNET USE ESSENTIAL INDICATORS OF INTERNET ADOPTION AND USE +3.5% BILLION 63.5% +171 MILLION 6H 37M 92.1% TOTAL INTERNET INTERNET USERS AS YEAR-ON-YEAR CHANGE AVERAGE DAILY TIME SPENT PERCENTAGE OF USERS USERS A PERCENTAGE OF IN THE NUMBER OF USING THE INTERNET BY ACCESSING THE INTERNET TOTAL POPULATION INTERNET USERS EACH INTERNET USER VIA MOBILE PHONES Figure 16.1 - Global mobile phone and internet use The increasing connectivity of consumers also leads to the greater use of social media as well as mobile commerce. About 60% of users in the age group 16 to 64 with internet access make online purchases weekly. The amount of mobile purchases is increasing. In 2021, online purchases of consumer goods exceeded $3.8 trillion in the US. The United Nations (UN) has a goal of connecting 90% of the global population to the internet by 2050 (https://transhumanica.com/asts). Such efforts could be accelerated by making all or the majority of smartphones satellite phones. This could help to overcome the growing cost of cell towers as well as issues with geo-political boundaries and hard-to-access terrains. The Iridium and Starlink systems are pioneering efforts in this direction. However, the cost of these systems has to come down to allow mass adoption. If regular smartphones can be easily adapted to utilize a satellite communication system, it will be a breakthrough on this front. AST SpaceMobile is working on the BlueBird satellite program, toward this goal (https : // spacenews.com/operational-ast-spacemobile-satellites-could-proceed- without-prototype/). Their proposed approach uses large satellites with a modular design that can allow smartphones to directly communicate with a satellite-based cellular system. The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) granted AST a license 