Qualcomm Satellite Communications Old Solution "Bankrupt"
Since Apple and Huawei have used satellite communication technology, mobile phone manufacturers have been keen to add this feature to the application map to meet the niche needs of more people. Qualcomm, which has always been a leader in communications, recently announced the dissolution of its partnership with satellite partner Iridium in a press release, although Qualcomm said it still hopes to work with Iridium in future projects. This is the latest setback for satellite connectivity to extend phone use beyond mobile networks.
Iridium previously announced that it had entered into an agreement with Qualcomm to use Iridium's satellite network to provide satellite messaging and emergency services to smartphones powered by the Snapdragon mobile platform, Iridium said. These companies have successfully developed and demonstrated the technology, however, despite their technical success, smartphone manufacturers have yet to incorporate the technology into their devices. As a result, Qualcomm notified Iridium on November 3, 2023 that it had opted to terminate the agreement, effective December 3, 2023.
It is not just needed, but it will become the flagship standard
Satellite communication is a technology that uses artificial satellites as relay stations to achieve communication between different regions such as land, sea and air. Satellite communication has the advantages of wide coverage, fast transmission speed and strong anti-interference ability, and is an important part of modern communication. Previously, satellite communication was mainly used in the military, aviation, navigation, scientific research and other fields, in recent years, with the gradual development and popularization of the civilian field, satellite communication technology began to provide consumer-grade mobile terminals, mainly for flagship mobile phones, mainly because the technology still has a threshold, and the cost is high. Its costs mainly include the cost of manufacturing, launching and operating satellites, which is also reflected in the tariffs for its use.
According to China Telecom's official announcement, the satellite call function in the Huawei Mate 60 Pro mobile phone can only be activated by China Telecom card. The basic service fee of this package is 10 yuan per month, including 30 free satellite messages. Domestic satellite phones start from 10 yuan per minute, international satellite phones start from 20 yuan per minute, and calls between satellite phones start from 50 yuan per minute. In addition, there are other packages to choose from, such as 200 yuan for 200 minutes of domestic satellite phone, etc.
Since Huawei and Apple have used (currently, the Mate 60 Pro has dual satellite communication capabilities, that is, it can both realize Tiantong satellite calls and send Beidou satellite messages. In the iPhone 14 series and the iPhone 15 series, which are optimized and optimized, the satellite communication function is only used for one-way data transmission. Therefore, it is only possible to send information from mobile phones to satellites. In terms of application, it is also necessary to focus on sending satellite distress messages and connecting to the corresponding roadside assistance providers. The leading and exemplary effect of the two in the mobile phone industry cannot be underestimated. Therefore, other mobile phone manufacturers have also followed suit.
Currently, Xiaomi has tested the satellite communication feature on the new 14 series phones. vivo also exhibited a concept mobile phone that realizes direct satellite connection this year, and revealed that domestic chip technology is used in the landing of this technology. Previously, Honor said that it was developing satellite communication technology and was expected to carry it on the new aircraft. On November 10, OPPO also officially announced that "the next generation of Find flagship products will support satellite communications". China Telecom said at the Wuzhen Summit of the World Internet Conference that Huawei does not monopolize satellite communication technology, and China Telecom is planning to cooperate with more mobile phone manufacturers to promote the popularization of the technology.
In addition, Park Yong-in, CEO of Samsung Systems' LSI Division, confirmed that the company will support satellite communications for emergency services from next year. This will most likely mean that the Galaxy S24 series, which will be launched early next year, will also have two-way satellite communication for emergencies.
Qualcomm's plan B
Essentially, the end of the project was inevitable, as Qualcomm couldn't get any Android maker to add satellite messaging to the phone. Qualcomm's satellite solution doesn't require much new hardware, so the rejection is apparently due to Qualcomm's design of the feature and (probably) any additional charges it adds to the bill of materials. In a statement to CNBC, Qualcomm said smartphone makers "have expressed a preference for standards-based satellite-to-phone connectivity solutions" and that the company now wants to move to that program.
Since Snapdragon satellites were never launched, it's hard to say exactly what the difference is between a "standards-based" platform and a Snapdragon satellite. Qualcomm and Iridium's solution uses the proprietary Iridium protocol, just like many large antenna satellite phones. The alternative is the 3GPP standard "5G NTN (Non-Ground Network)" used by devices such as the Motorola satellite link, which has a MediaTek chip and is connected to the Inmarsat satellite. Qualcomm pledged to support the news at CES earlier this year, saying that Snapdragon satellites are scheduled to support 5G NTN as NTN satellite infrastructure and constellations become available. At present, Qualcomm already has several 5G NTN projects in progress.
The initial Qualcomm formulation made the project look like standard-compliant two-way text messaging: "Snapdragon satellites provide true global coverage from the pole to the pole and can support two-way messaging, text messaging, and other messaging applications for emergency use." However, Qualcomm showed pictures of the Qualcomm-branded messaging app, which has its own address book, message list, and location system.
Obviously, Qualcomm does not want to miss the rare "highlight" moment in today's weak innovation of smartphones. On November 9, Qualcomm China revealed to the media that Qualcomm has reached cooperation with Xiaomi, OPPO, vivo and many other smartphone manufacturers to use satellite direct connection to achieve 5G satellite communication in mobile phones, and related application functions will be implemented on consumer-grade mobile phones.
The movements of other "players" in the United States
In addition to Qualcomm, other U.S. companies and operators are also reluctant to give up their competitive opportunities in the field of satellite communications. Motorola's satellite link does not support sending text messages, and requires the sender and receiver to use a proprietary app. No one knows how its billing will work with Qualcomm's solution, but Motorola's hotspot requires an additional monthly subscription of $5 to $30 per month, or $60 per year.
All three major U.S. carriers have announced their own satellite phone solutions, but are yet to move away from technology demonstrations. T-Mobile has partnered with SpaceX's Starlink to provide satellite services, but AT&T has tried to block the deployment for fear that the service will erode its own spectrum.
For its part, AT&T has established a link with AST SpaceMobile to expand its reach, but nothing has been announced for almost a year. Similarly, Verizon revealed back in October 2021 that it would use Amazon's Project Kuiper satellites (Amazon launched the first satellites in the project's network last month) for the connection, but no update has been provided since.
Google's Android team is also working on building satellite APIs into Android's phone stack. The project was originally announced for Android 14, but was not included in the final version. It may be rolled out in a quarterly update, though, although it doesn't look like it's going very well at the moment. Whatever Qualcomm's solution ultimately is, the competitive sense of the Android ecosystem (Apple already has products that support satellite communications) will keep the work going.
Han Juke, vice president of China Communications Industry Association and president of the Internet of Things Application Branch, said in an interview with the media: "Satellite communication still has a certain technical threshold in the connection and adaptation technology of high-orbit mobile phone applications, and major mobile phone manufacturers and industrial chain enterprises need to cooperate to make technological breakthroughs. ”
However, in order to meet the communication needs of more high-end users in some extreme scenarios, mobile phone manufacturers and upstream suppliers will still work together to achieve satellite communication capabilities for consumer-grade products.