Satellite Connectivity Is Now Available On Another Smartphone, As The Mobile Space Race Intensifie

It is the latest in a crowded field of satellite-enabled devices launched by a British smartphone manufacturer, Bullitt, on Friday. Bullitt's new phone is capable of sending text messages via space.

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Considering that this phone falls under the "rugged" category of durable handsets, it comes in two versions: there is the Caterpillar-branded Cat S75, which is targeted at the European market, and costs 599 euros ($634.49), and the Motorola Defy 2, which is targeted toward North American consumers at a price of $599.

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Bullitt claims the phones can last up to two full days with their 5000 milliampere-hour batteries and 5G connectivity.

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In Bullitt's phones, a message is beamed to geostationary satellites about 22,000 miles above the equator and then sent back down to earth-based network infrastructure before it reaches the device of the user.

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SMS messages are received as standard SMS messages by the user. The firm's proprietary satellite messaging app, Bullitt Messenger, must be installed for them to reply. 

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The processing time for a text message is around 10 seconds, as opposed to the near real-time response of cell phones. It is only when a user falls outside the range of Wi-Fi or mobile network signals that a satellite connection is made available to them.

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The announcement of Bullitt's new phones comes just a few months after Apple announced that its iPhone 14 will have a feature that allows users to contact emergency services via satellite in the event of an emergency. Currently, the feature is available in the United States, the United Kingdom, France, Germany, and Ireland.

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In order for companies such as Apple and Qualcomm to profit from the untapped opportunity of delivering satellite phones to rural areas that fall outside the reach of terrestrial telecommunications infrastructure, they are betting on the untapped potential of satellite phones.

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Through satellite communication, messages can reach large areas that are not covered by earth-based cellular networks. The range of cell towers is limited, so if you stray too far, your signal will drop.

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If you're a hiker who gets lost on a mountain trail in a far-flung place, or if you're a worker on a remote building site who needs to contact their boss, but is unable to access mobile data, here's a simple solution for you.

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For decades, satellite phones have been in the works, but they have not yet made their way into mainstream usage. Bullitt hopes to change this with its gear in the near future. It is common to see satellite phones that are clunky rectangular objects with huge, visible antennas. However, Bullitt's smartphones look like regular smartphones, thanks in large part to their satellite-enabled chips from Taiwanese semiconductor company MediaTek.

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“There is no gimmick here,” Tim Shepherd, Bullitt's senior director of applications and product marketing, told Trade Algo.

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“A reliable communication network beyond the traditional cellular network is a major concern for many people, and satellite technology is now at the right level of maturity to address the problem.”

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In partnership with critical event management firm Focuspoint International, Bullitt's phones provide two-way SMS messages, as well as an emergency SOS feature.

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For Bullitt's two-way messaging service, the rates are set at 4.99 euros for a basic plan with 30 messages per month, 9.99 euros for 125 messages a month, and 29.99 euros for 400 messages a month.

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Comparatively, rival Garmin charges £19 for 10 texts a month, £32 for 60 texts a month, and £58 for 250 texts a month, on top of an activation fee of £35 that must be paid once.

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Emergency SOS on the iPhone 14 and iPhone 14 Pro is free for two years after activation, but it does not enable two-way messaging.

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It has not yet been revealed how much the service will cost once the trial period is over.

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Motorola Defy Satellite Link is a Bluetooth accessory that allows any Android or iOS device to connect to the Bullitt Satellite Messenger app, effectively making any phone a satellite phone. As of the second quarter of this year, the puck-shaped device, which is expected to retail for $99, will be available for purchase.

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CCS Insight's Ben Wood, a lead analyst, said Bullitt is targeting a niche market and that its solution would be better suited to countries with large land masses like the United States and Australia, due to the fact that they have large continental areas.

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The company is regarded as a trailblazer in satellite messaging, but Wood, who spoke to Trade Algo, said that the competition is catching up to it fast. “Having said that, the target market for its devices is well suited to the technology, so there is a lucrative niche to target for the company."

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The Bullitt satellite will support satellite coverage in Europe and North America at launch, as well as Australia and New Zealand, Africa, and Latin America by the middle of 2023.

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Prior to this, the company had been responsible for what it described as the world's first thermal imaging smartphone, called the Cat S60, which was released in 2016. A few years ago, the company predicted that the feature would be incorporated into 50% of smartphones in the next five years, but this prediction did not come to fruition.

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