Some reporters (ahem, myself) thought it would be the year of phone-to-satellite connectivity. Sike! It didn’t manifest, and now it looks like we’re headed straight into 2024 as a year of on-device AI. What happened?
This cresting of a fad wave only to see it plummet was probably only seen by phones fans. Apple began to make waves with the release of Emergency SOS via Satellite within the iPhone 14 in late 2022. The tool lets iPhone owners send texts to emergency services through satellites.
Then Qualcomm kicked off 2023 with a big pitch: by midyear, handsets with Snapdragon chips would be able to tap into satellite owner Iridium’s network to relay emergency texts at first, then eventually send data and videos. At CES 2023, the company took reporters out into the Las Vegas desert for a demonstration of satellite-connected phones. Motorola and robust phonemaker Bullitt teased their own tough satellite handset solution, which caused more ripples.
But by the end of 2023, no phones had come out with Snapdragon Satellite and Qualcomm ended its deal with Iridium. Further, the satellite solutions proposed by AT&T, Verizon and T-Mobile have yet to come online.
The year is poised to end with no other mainstream phones getting satellite texting, let alone voice or video. That leaves the iPhone as the sole handset that can connect to and use satellites to augment their communications in an emergency. It’s a reality check on the hype, including buzz echoed by media, and a recognition that there are more obstacles to tackle before we’re all texting with our smartphones from the middle of nowhere.
What happened to the year of Satellite Texting, as this reporter was so bold (or foolish) as to predict? And when will satellite service expand beyond iPhones to help hapless Android owners?
Graphic from Samsung demonstrating an area without phone service, which could potentially instead use satellite connectivity.
Apple’s deep pockets go a long way
The iPhone’s Emergency SOS is a singular solution that’s tough to replicate given the measures Apple has taken to ensure it works. Apple partnered with Globalstar, using its satellites to relay messages from phones (for now, the iPhone 14 and iPhone 15) to get help. Those messages are sent to a dedicated Apple-funded-and-organized triage team that forwards them to appropriate emergency response services near the iPhone owners.
Since launching in late 2022, Apple’s satellite service has provided potentially lifesaving help for a number of iPhone 14 and iPhone 15 owners who have tumbled into canyons beyond cell service and even been stranded in the Maui fires. Apple showcased these rescues during its press events to help promote its latest phones. It evidently believes it’s a worthwhile investment, considering the company expanded its initial two years of complimentary Emergency SOS service into a third free year for iPhone 14 owners.
But to achieve that level of service, you’d need to have Apple’s level of finances. That’s why other satellite solutions required different approaches to shoulder the financial and logistical burden.
When Emergency SOS for satellites launched in November 2022, Apple stated that the company had invested $450 million to make its system work, a majority of which went to satellite company Globalstar to power the phone-to-satellite experience (including 300 Globalstar employees who support the service). Apple declined to comment on how much that service costs to maintain in the year since Emergency SOS went live. But Apple’s deep pockets and resources likely played a big role in making the service a reality.
In a spending race, only Samsung, which made around $52 billion in revenue in the third quarter of 2023, seems to be in Apple’s league ($81.8 billion in revenue in the same period). And Samsung is working on a satellite solution for its phones, and a recent SamMobile report suggested that functionality it’s coming in the rumored Samsung Galaxy S24 expected early next year. That’s still too late for the closing bell of 2023.
Beyond having the finances to support satellite systems, expanding such services beyond iPhones could just be a matter of waiting for the infrastructure to catch up. Even if Snapdragon Satellite had gotten device support, its partner Iridium’s 25-year-old satellite constellation is closer to 2G than 5G, Snapdragon Vice President Francesco Grilli noted when the service was revealed at CES. That means it could handle texting just fine but not voice calls unless Iridium added newer satellites to its cluster.
While Apple’s iPhone 14 and 15 can send Emergency SOS texts over partner GlobalStar’s network, it’s not clear if the current setup can handle voice calls or video. And the other solutions proposed by carriers are still a ways away from handling their text loads, let alone voice and data. We could just be in a waiting game, said Anshel Sag, principal analyst at Moor Insights and Strategy.
“I think it will still be a few years before this comes to fruition,” Sag said. “And I think it’s very dependent on the deployment of these [low Earth orbit) constellations.”
