Satellites plus phones total up to a frontier that is new Apple and others

Today’s big reveal from Cupertino adds Apple to the list of companies aiming to combine the power of satellite communications with the power of everyday cellphones — a list that includes other tech heavyweights such as T-Mobile and SpaceX, Amazon and Verizon, OneWeb and AT&T.

Also on the list: a startup that’s carving out a niche on the frontier that is satellite-cellular

“We’re years ahead of anybody else, and so we’re inside a position that is great” said Charles Miller, co-founder and CEO of Virginia-based Lynk. “We’ve been talking for a while about what a business that is huge is, as well as a couple of other programs are actually just starting to get up.”

Specialized satellite phones have been in existence for decades, nevertheless the new crop of space-based telecom services is supposed to work with the billions of smartphones which can be produced when it comes to general market.

In some scenarios — for instance, with the* that is( and OneWeb-AT&T deals — telecom operators could use satellites to connect with cell towers on the back end, in remote areas where it isn’t practical to run fiber cables. That’s what’s known as cellular backhaul.

In other scenarios, companies are providing antenna-equipped terminals that can select between traditional service that is cellular satellite service when voice/data links are required at remote sites — or each time a disaster cripples cell service. That’s what Kirkland, Wash.-based Kymeta Corp. is performing along with its hybrid satellite-cellular system.

The scenario that is obtaining the attention that is most nowadays involves direct-to-phone satellite communications: Instead of going through a cell tower or ground-based, antenna-equipped terminals, signals can be beamed back and forth directly between satellites in low Earth orbit and the iPhone or Android phone in your hand.

That direct satellite link would serve as a last-resort connection if the cellphone user is stuck without any other sort of coverage — for example, if you’re lost on a mountain trail, or stuck with a flat tire on a road that is rural. That’s what Apple can do along with its iPhone that is new 14 and what T-Mobile is aiming to do with SpaceX’s Starlink network. “It’s going to massively improve people’s convenience, and it’s going to save lives,” SpaceX CEO Elon Musk said when the T-Mobile-SpaceX deal was revealed.

Apple’s emergency SOS plan is aimed squarely at safety: The iPhone 14 will be programmed to show you where to point your phone to link up with overhead satellites — reportedly, satellites in Globalstar’s constellation. There’ll be an interface that can guide you through a series of buttons to send the appropriate alert, whether you’re injured, stranded or lost.

On the end that is back Apple and its particular partners have put up a method to cope with 9-1-1 issues when needed — for instance, to relay a text message to emergency agencies via voice. And you can send your location to loved ones via Apple’s FindMy feature.

“It if you’re in an area without cell coverage Took years to make this vision a reality,” Ashley Williams, Apple’s manager for satellite simulation and modeling, said during today’s reveal. Apple’s iPhone 14 hits the marketplace this month, nevertheless the emergency that is satellite-based feature won’t be available until November.

You might think all these deals that are high-profile create a startup CEO like Lynk’s Miller nervous. When it comes to past 5 years, Miller along with his team have now been gearing up to provide direct-to-phone satellite service for texting — a thought that only now is apparently hold that is taking. The truth is, Miller could be more pleased n’t.

“When you keep in touch with people, and also this may be the time that is first ever hear of it, they’re going, ‘Well, gosh, this is really new. Why have I never heard of it before?’ And so, people are naturally skeptical,” he told GeekWire. “But when a bunch of other people that are really smart jumping in and carrying it out, that eliminates that question.”its first commercial-grade “cell tower in space” went into orbitLynk has recently launched a few test satellites, as well as in [/embed]

with an assist from SpaceX april. Three more satellites are due to go up later this year, clearing the way for commercial service.

Some regulatory and hurdles that are technical, but Miller said his company already has 15 contracts with mobile network operators all over the world all set. Nearly all of Lynk’s telecom partners plan to offer satellite connectivity for a premium “day pass” basis. Others will “allow all of their users to have our service as an element of their policy for free,” Miller said. (Apple says its emergency SOS plan will likely to be liberated to iPhone 14 purchasers when it comes to first couple of years.)AST SpaceMobileEven though Lynk is focusing exclusively on store-and-forward texting for the time being, Miller thinks the market that is satellite-cellular be easily big enough to accommodate his company as well as other players. join the fray in the 2023-2024 time frameTexas-based AST SpaceMobile and Nokia announced a five-year partnership is due* that is to( by way of a space-based cellular broadband network that needs to be available to standard cell phones. In July,

to build up technologies for 4G and connectivity that is 5G. Real-world trials could begin as early as this year with the send short messages and map out routes via the BeiDou navigation satellite system.

And on the eve of Apple’s announcement, China’s Huawei Technologies said its next flagship smartphone will let users

.