Apple's latest batch of iPhones come with general feature improvements to Apple's camera technology, processor capability and battery life. But there's new technology, too. The phones also sport capabilities that could have an impact on companies in the telecom industry, including support for satellite connections, wider support for eSIM technology and support for Dish Network's Band 70 spectrum.

Satellites

As expected, Apple's new iPhones can connect to Globalstar's satellites. According to FierceWireless, they do so through Globalstar's L band for uplink and S band for downlink. They also support Globalstar's 2.4GHz Band 53 for terrestrial networks.

Apple said it will offer the satellite messaging capability to its new iPhone customers for free for two years. However, the company is touting the messaging-only capabilities for emergencies only.

"With Emergency SOS via satellite, iPhone front-loads a few vital questions to assess the user's situation, and shows them where to point their phone to connect to a satellite," Apple explained in a release. "The initial questionnaire and follow-up messages are then relayed to centers staffed by Apple–trained specialists who can call for help on the user's behalf. This breakthrough technology also allows users to manually share their location over satellite with Find My when there is no cellular or Wi-Fi connection, providing a sense of security when hiking or camping off the grid."

In an SEC filing, Globalstar explained that Apple is the mystery customer it first announced in 2020. The company said it will allocate 85% of its current and future network capacity to Apple's services. Globalstar added that it expects $185 million to $230 million in revenues from its Apple deal during 2023, generating an EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization) margin of 55%. That's up from Globalstar's $124 million in revenues in 2021.

Figure 1: (Source: NASA)

"The company expects these financial metrics to continue to improve significantly by 2026, which is expected to be the first full year in which the new satellites are operational, with total revenue expected to increase by approximately 35% compared to the 2023 forecast," Globalstar added.

Interestingly, according to new data from OpenSignal, mobile users in the US spend roughly 1% of their time disconnected from cellular signals.

"It's important to remember that while these percentages may seem small, some times will be considerably more valuable to users than others, for example, the ability to send an emergency message when off-grid during a car breakdown or because of a hiking accident," wrote OpenSignal's Ian Fogg.

As Fogg noted, Apple is among a large and growing crowd of companies looking to connect phones to satellites. For example, China's Huawei said its new Mate 50 smartphone can connect directly to China's global BeiDou satellite network. Separately, according to the BBC, Bullitt is planning to release a smartphone in February 2023 that will allow users to send and receive text messages via satellites. And a top Android executive promised that the platform would support satellite messaging with Android 14 next year.

The developments come just weeks after SpaceX and T-Mobile announced a partnership to connect T-Mobile phones to SpaceX satellites starting late next year.

"This could be a $20 billion+ annual opportunity in the US, and multiples of that globally. Voice delivered via satellite to regular smartphones may still be one or two iPhone iterations away," wrote the financial analysts at New Street Research in a new note to investors. "This will be a space to watch."

eSIM

Although Apple has supported eSIM technology since 2018 in its iPhones, the company said it would discontinue support for physical SIM cards in its newest iPhone 14s. That means the company's iPhone 14s will be able to use two eSIMs at once and can store more than that.

However, the company will only make that change to its iPhone 14s bound for the US market; models for other markets may continue to support physical SIM cards.

The move comes after T-Mobile announced it will use eSIM technology to offer customers the option to switch to its network with the click of a button. That move was noteworthy because it was the first time a major US network operator widely embraced the promise of eSIM technology.

This use of eSIM technology could allow customers to switch from one operator to another instantly. They could make this switch at any time – over the course of a vacation or when changing devices or shopping for a new data plan.

However, it's not yet clear exactly how the eSIM opportunity will play out. Even in a saturated smartphone market like the US, it's not a sure thing that the new technology implementation will increase the number of customers who switch their service.

Dish Network

Finally, Apple said its new devices support Dish Network's unique Band 70 spectrum.

For Dish, that spectrum band covers a total of 40MHz, combining 20MHz of AWS-4 downlink, 5 MHz of PCS H-Block downlink and 15MHz of AWS-3 uplink. There are no other network operators in the world that use that specific band. Thus, phones that support the band imply direct support of Dish by handset makers.

So far, there are only a handful of phones that support Band 70. But a new iPhone with support for the band likely indicates more support for Dish's spectrum holdings.

"This is a huge step forward for the company, as millions of devices with Band 70 will be sold over the next few quarters," wrote the New Street analysts. "Even if it takes another year for the band to be enabled, when it is enabled, there will be millions of iPhones in circulation capable of using it."

Dish is working to build a nationwide 5G network working across Band 71 (600MHz), Band 66 (AWS) and Band 70 (AWS-4). Dish does own licenses in other spectrum bands – from 3.5GHz CBRS to 3.45GHz-3.55GHz – but hasn't yet deployed the radio equipment necessary to put them into action.

The release of Apple's iPhone 14 with Band 70 would also put the gadget in line to support Dish's planned postpaid service under the Boost Infinite tagline, to launch this fall. The company has said it would offer Boost Infinite with phones working on Band 70.

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— Mike Dano, Editorial Director, 5G & Mobile Strategies, Light Reading | @mikeddano