Satphones Are Back!
Last October we noted that Apple (AAPL) had included the ability to make emergency call (text message) in areas that were not covered by cell service, through the iPhone 14 and 14 Pro.. The service, available for free for two years in the US, Canada, France, Germany, Ireland and the UK, if you have iOS 16.1 or later, and while the service is available for travelers to those countries in an emergency, if the phone was purchased in China, Hong Kong or Macao, those phones do not include the service. Apple is spending ~$450m, primarily with Globalstar (GSAT) to ensure access to the company’s 24 LEO satellites for emergency-only texts, as long as the user is in view of the open sky and the horizon.
While sat-phones have been around for many years, particularly those based on high-earth orbit satellite systems (~22,000 miles), which can handle higher data volumes but require the user’s phone to ‘find’ a HEO satellite. LEO satellites are ~900 miles up and smaller, but there are at least two or three available to phone users at all times, and do not have to be ‘found’ by the user’s phone. HEO based phones are therefore more expensive but are more capable. Military applications are obvious, but those working in remote locations, such as off-shore platforms, disaster recovery workers, or forestry workers, all have difficulty connecting using typical cellular services, while able to connect, especially in an emergency, via satellite. We note that Google (GOOG) search results for the phrase ‘satellite phone’ originate primarily (US only) from Alaska, Montana, Kansas, Idaho, and Oregon, none of which are surprising.
Of course, Apple’s service is an emergency convenience, but has already started a trend, with Samsung Electronics (005930.KS) announcing that while it will not be including such services in the Galaxy S23 series, it is building a 5G NTN (Non-terrestrial network) modem into its Exynos chipset, that will give it similar capabilities to the Apple service but will also allow the user to send photos and videos, stepping up the competition and pushing it past ‘emergency services. Qualcomm (QCOM) has also announced that they are working with Iridium (IRDM) to build emergency satellite services into its Snapdragon Mobile Platform by mid-2025.
Right now the idea of building satellite communication into smartphones is one that has rarified use, but will likely garner the inevitable, “My iPhone 14 saved my life when I was lost on a mountain top…”headlines and push other smartphone brands to add the service to high-end models, but satellite service can be challenging and expensive, so unless the average smartphone user is a global traveler who remains off the beaten path, it seems to be a service with a limited (but helpful) usage profile. A e-Sims become accepted by smartphone brands and carriers, the ability to sign up to a cell service in a foreign country for a relatively short time becomes a simple process, which obviates one reason for owning or renting a sat-phone, but Apple can create considerable buzz and seems to have set the tone for a new round of competition among major smartphone brands, so we expect to hear more about such plans over the next few months.
While sat-phones have been around for many years, particularly those based on high-earth orbit satellite systems (~22,000 miles), which can handle higher data volumes but require the user’s phone to ‘find’ a HEO satellite. LEO satellites are ~900 miles up and smaller, but there are at least two or three available to phone users at all times, and do not have to be ‘found’ by the user’s phone. HEO based phones are therefore more expensive but are more capable. Military applications are obvious, but those working in remote locations, such as off-shore platforms, disaster recovery workers, or forestry workers, all have difficulty connecting using typical cellular services, while able to connect, especially in an emergency, via satellite. We note that Google (GOOG) search results for the phrase ‘satellite phone’ originate primarily (US only) from Alaska, Montana, Kansas, Idaho, and Oregon, none of which are surprising.
Of course, Apple’s service is an emergency convenience, but has already started a trend, with Samsung Electronics (005930.KS) announcing that while it will not be including such services in the Galaxy S23 series, it is building a 5G NTN (Non-terrestrial network) modem into its Exynos chipset, that will give it similar capabilities to the Apple service but will also allow the user to send photos and videos, stepping up the competition and pushing it past ‘emergency services. Qualcomm (QCOM) has also announced that they are working with Iridium (IRDM) to build emergency satellite services into its Snapdragon Mobile Platform by mid-2025.
Right now the idea of building satellite communication into smartphones is one that has rarified use, but will likely garner the inevitable, “My iPhone 14 saved my life when I was lost on a mountain top…”headlines and push other smartphone brands to add the service to high-end models, but satellite service can be challenging and expensive, so unless the average smartphone user is a global traveler who remains off the beaten path, it seems to be a service with a limited (but helpful) usage profile. A e-Sims become accepted by smartphone brands and carriers, the ability to sign up to a cell service in a foreign country for a relatively short time becomes a simple process, which obviates one reason for owning or renting a sat-phone, but Apple can create considerable buzz and seems to have set the tone for a new round of competition among major smartphone brands, so we expect to hear more about such plans over the next few months.
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