A startup plans to launch thousands of low-flying satellites to enable normal cell phones to make calls when outside of land-based cell tower range. No extra user hardware required.
Ubiquitilink has tested the concept and plans to start limited service in 2021. They’ll sell services to mobile carriers like AT&T and Verizon – we’ll probably pay extra for extended service.
The Verge: Space startup aims to launch thousands of satellite ‘cell towers’ that connect to the average phone
https://www.theverge.com/2019/8/2/20746947/ubiquitilink-satellite-cell-tower-space-mega-constellation
Ubiquitilink web site:
https://www.ubiquitilink.com
Home page splash photo targets smartphone carrying non-UL backpackers:
In 2021, when UbiquitiLink has between 24 and 36 satellites in orbit, users can expect coverage every hour, anywhere between 55 degrees north and south latitudes. With the company’s planned constellation of several thousand satellites by 2023, coverage will be continuous, whether in the middle of the Sahara Desert, the Amazon jungle, or the Pacific Ocean.
UbiquitiLink has so far signed trial partnerships with 24 companies, including 18 mobile network operators representing approximately 1 billion mobile phone subscribers.
My opinions:
Several companies are planning to launch thousands of satellites for internet access. Most will fail. But this is the first plan that doesn’t require everyday users to carry another device. Cost unknown, performance unknown. And schemes like this never go according to schedule.
OTOH, if UbiquitiLink succeeds, no place on Earth will be safe from idiots with smartphones.
— Rex
