Carrier Satellite Connectivity - the Future?

[Azathoth123]

We’ve seen emergency satellite communications coming in the iPhone 14. Apple has reportedly bought 80% of Globalstar‘s capacity and will support future investment and upgrades to Globalstar.

Steve Jobs once called the carriers the 7 horsemen though now there are 4 (I think) in the US. Carriers have always been an issue with Apple with respect to a lot of business issues (and rightly so, the carriers have their own bottom line to look after).

Apple has to make concessions (which is very un-Apple like) because the carriers have massive physical infrastructure built out, which Apple necessarily has to depend on. And carriers sell Apple products very well indeed.

So if Apple builds out it’s own satellite network, will that eventually make the land-based carriers another Blackberry?

 

[skyhawkmatthew]

It’ll be a long time before there’s enough capacity for all iPhone communication to go via satellite, and many technical challenges still exist with regard to getting a reliable signal indoors. Terrestrial networks will remain the primary solution for a long time yet.

 

[Azathoth123]

It’ll be a long time before there’s enough capacity for all iPhone communication to go via satellite, and many technical challenges still exist with regard to getting a reliable signal indoors. Terrestrial networks will remain the primary solution for a long time yet.

I agree.

But the company that killed the floppy drive, earphone jacks, and (maybe) physical SIMs isn’t going to stop killing hardware.

I think that the carriers and their trillion dollar physical infrastructure are dead center in Apple’s crosshairs. Apple is in for the long game.

 

[JPack]

Satellite is like mmWave - a weird technically challening corner case where it could help out in some situations. Satellite will always be slower and more expensive than land-based systems due to power, servicing, and deployment costs.

Kuo has predicted Globalstar will offer voice in the future and I think that will definitely happen.

Will Apple replace or supplant any of the carriers? I doubt it. It varies far too much in each country and requires corruption (I mean lobbying) to succeed. And that's not something Apple is great at, at least not yet.

 

[Azathoth123]

Satellite is like mmWave - a weird technically challening corner case where it could help out in some situations. Satellite will always be slower and more expensive than land-based systems due to power, servicing, and deployment costs.

Kuo has predicted Globalstar will offer voice in the future and I think that will definitely happen.

Will Apple replace or supplant any of the carriers? I doubt it. It varies far too much in each country and requires corruption (I mean lobbying) to succeed. And that's not something Apple is great at, at least not yet.

Thank you for your input @JPack - the iPhone (a ‘modern‘ phone) is basically 15 years old, not that long in the grand scheme of things. You are correct, now, but…..

15 years from now, are we going to see communications over hard wire/fiber? I kind of doubt it.

Satellite phones exist and work. They’re big, clumsy, and service is expensive. Just like the ‘bricks’ and satchel phones that went away. This kind of market is a natural feeding ground for Apple.

 

[4sallypat]

Is this how T Mobile's advertising works like Apple's ?

Or is T Mobile riding the skirts of Apple ?