On a cloudy day at Mobile World Congress last week in Barcelona, I walked out of one of the large conference rooms into daylight, pointed a phone skyward and saw a message sent by satellite – no mobile network was needed.
All you need is an inexpensive Bluetooth device and a service plan.
Why is this a big problem? As always, context matters.
You can have a great SIM deal that lets you get unlimited calls, texts, and data, but it’s all useless if you have no signal.
Many tech companies are trying to find ways to add satellite communications into smartphones because sometimes we find ourselves without cellular coverage and unable to send or receive messages or calls.
You might find yourself in an emergency situation but with no mobile signal and wish your phone could use satellite messaging, but hardly any phone has it built in. Apple has added an SOS emergency messaging feature to its iPhone 14 phones, but it’s limited to a few countries and pricing isn’t announced (it’s free for two years initially).
Qualcomm, the US chipset supplier for many Android makers, is also promoting Snapdragon Satellite, its technology that customers can add to future high-end smartphones.
But while Apple’s emergency via satellite lets you message emergency services, the usual back and forth with people we’re used to with regular texting, WhatsApp, iMessage, Telegram or any other app messaging are still not what these services are designed for. For.
You might think that if these mega-bodies don’t yet have satellite messaging for the mass market, then a small UK business probably doesn’t either. But it is.
The Bullitt Group, based in Reading, England, has a global satellite messaging service that allows you to send and receive messages to and from anyone with a mobile phone number anywhere in the world, and it is currently online in Europe and North America for consumers and professional buyers. . It is designed for emergency use, but can technically be used for any purpose.
Bullitt has been manufacturing phones for around 15 years as a licensee where it builds the devices but sells them with recognizable brand names such as Motorola to make them more attractive to buyers.
Standing with me under that cloudy sky was Bullitt Group satellite marketing manager Phil Wicks. It was armed with the new CAT S75, a $599/£599 Android phone with built-in satellite connectivity. Using a service plan and the Bullitt messaging app, Phil sent several messages that I saw sent and answered live, with no cellular network involved. .
Henry Burrell / Foundry
Wicks said that until now, satellite communications have been carried out through large, expensive devices not designed for consumers.
“There’s no reason it should be as expensive as it has been,” Wicks said. “We’re just showing that it can be cheap.”
The S75 can message or ping live locations to emergency contacts, and you can also triage via multiple choice questions with emergency services around the world if you are unable to dial a message.
If you don’t like a bulky, rugged CAT phone, you can soon buy a $99/£99/$119 Motorola Defy Satellite Link instead, a Bluetooth dongle that adds satellite communications to any phone. Android or iPhone. It is powered by the MT6825 chipset from MediaTek, one of Qualcomm’s closest competitors in the market. We gave the Defy a Best of MWC 2023 award for the affordability and peace of mind it could add to your life (or your backpack).
“We’re trying to make sure that we can put that in a much more user-friendly form factor, but also that the service plans are realistic…it’s about getting the satellite out to people.”
You can send a message using the Bullitt app thanks to the company’s use of two constellations of geostationary satellites from the companies Inmarsat and EchoStar.
Geostationary satellites are those that orbit the Earth at the same speed as the Earth spins, effectively always maintaining their same positions in the sky. These constellations are 22,300 miles above Earth and located near the equator.
The person sending the message needs the Bullitt service plan, but the recipient does not. You can buy 30 messages on a monthly plan for $4.99 / £4.99.
That means you can buy the Defy dongle and a service plan with 30 two-way messages per month for a year for $149/£149/$169.
The service, Bullitt Satellite Connect, is live in Europe and North America, but Wicks said it will be live in Latin America, South Africa, Australia and New Zealand and then “everywhere else”. by the end of 2023.
Henry Burrell / Foundry
“There is no technical reason why we cannot have global coverage, but there are geopolitical reasons. Saudi Arabia, Iran, China, Russia, are a bit wary of people using satellites without their knowledge,” he said.
The plans remain relatively cheap because the service is plain text messaging. Of course, it’s not as cheap as sending messages on your normal SIM plan, but remember that you are bypassing the entire mobile network and using technology that is very new and does not is not otherwise available to consumers. Also, what price do you put on security if you’re going on an adventure where there’s likely to be no mobile coverage?
“We use the narrowband IoT channel, which uses small amounts of data. So it’s about trying to reduce that cost and using the infrastructure that already exists.
Although Bullitt’s primary customers are businesses such as vehicle recovery companies, security companies, agricultural buyers, emergency services, first responders and those in areas without electricity, affordability and availability of the Motorola Defy make a compelling case for a backup satellite. device for emergencies sold at your local outdoor store, or even at the supermarket.
The tech giants might trick us into believing that satellite messaging is rare or expensive, but that might be because they don’t want to signal too much to mobile operators that we may no longer need mobile networks at home. ‘coming.
These relationships between manufacturers and operators are essential. Turns out Bullitt has no such concerns.
Wicks said some operators are freaking out, but the bigger ones are investing in the technology themselves. His company simply feels ahead of the curve.
“We’re a relatively small company, but just because we’re a bit more dynamic and flexible, we sorted that out pretty quickly. Big companies just take the time to sort things out.
