AST SpaceMobile, Inc. (ASTS) stock surged 5.04% in pre-market trading on Wednesday, building on the company's recent momentum as it progresses with its ambitious plan to provide satellite-based cellular broadband service directly to standard smartphones.

The pre-market rally follows a recent successful demonstration by AST's British partner Vodafone, where they achieved a "world's first" video satellite call to a standard smartphone on a Welsh hilltop with no terrestrial coverage. Additionally, in late January, the FCC authorized AT&T and Verizon to begin testing AST's service on a few thousand phones each.

While providing voice and limited video service to demonstration phones is a significant milestone, delivering 5G-quality broadband concurrently to thousands of moving phones remains a technical challenge. However, AST SpaceMobile has garnered support from major carriers and currently has five functioning satellites in orbit, fueling optimism about the company's prospects.