Following its recent analyst day, Globalstar's CEO Paul Jacobs shed a bit of light on the new satellite constellation that Globalstar is building for iPhone vendor Apple.
Apple is plowing a total of $1.7 billion into its satellite partner Globalstar for the construction of a new satellite constellation. But what exactly will that constellation look like? And what will it be able to do?
As with all of Apple's suppliers, Globalstar executives aren't saying much. But following Globalstar's recent analyst day, Globalstar CEO Paul Jacobs offered a few details about the company's new satellite plans in a conversation with Light Reading.
"We haven't announced any details on that: Not how many [satellites], not who's building them, or anything," Jacobs said, declining to answer questions about the number of satellites in the new constellation, their capabilities, or when Globalstar will launch them.
However, Jacobs did say that Globalstar's new satellite constellation for Apple will work inside of the company's existing spectrum holdings. The company's licensed MSS (Mobile Satellite Services) spectrum stretches across 8.725MHz of the L-band, 16.5MHz of the S-band and 339MHz of the C-band.
Jacobs also said Globalstar's new constellation for Apple – dubbed by Globalstar as the "Extended MSS Network" – will comprise low Earth orbit (LEO) satellites, just like Globalstar's current constellation of 24 satellites.
Jacobs declined to say whether Apple's new $1.7 billion injection into Globalstar – cash spread across an equity stake, prepayments and other buckets – would fully fund the construction and launch of the new Extended MSS Network.
Updating and expanding
Globalstar's current LEO constellation of 24 satellites has supported Apple's satellite messaging service since the iPhone vendor first announced the offering in 2022. Apple said its satellite-based emergency messaging service would be free for the first two years. However, Apple extended that free period into 2025.
With its new iOS 18 software platform, Apple shifted its emergency satellite messaging services to regular messaging services this year.
Globalstar is upgrading its current satellite constellation. It has already contracted with Canada's MDA to build the replacement satellites, and SpaceX will begin launching them into space next year.
LEO satellites orbit relatively close to Earth, generally between 160 and 2,000 kilometers above the planet's surface. Various other satellite Internet companies, including SpaceX's Starlink, use LEO satellites.
Globalstar will also continue to employ the 85% - 15% network-capacity split with Apple in its new satellite constellation. This means that Apple's services will use 85% of the network capacity within the new constellation, and Globalstar's services (which include various messaging and IoT offerings) will run on the remaining capacity. That's the same split Apple and Globalstar are using in Globalstar's existing constellation.
In its analyst day presentation, Globalstar said it expects to more than double its annual revenues from Apple with the new constellation, alongside an improved margin. Globalstar's shares jumped on the new Apple deal.
The future of phone-to-satellite messaging
Jacobs, the Globalstar CEO, offered a pragmatic take on the future of the direct to device (D2D) marketplace, speculating on how much everyday customers might pay for such services.
"If it adds an additional subscription fee, what's the uptake?" he wondered. "I did this thing called MediaFLO back in the day [when Jacobs was CEO of Qualcomm], and you got video on your phone in the 3G timeframe, when it was hard to get video over the cellular network. And after there was an increase in price to get that service, we didn't generate enough demand for it to keep it going."
Continued Jacobs: "So, any new function that requires an additional subscription, just already has some difficulty in getting uptake."
Jacobs noted that, in Apple's model, satellite messaging is designed to encourage customers to purchase a new device rather than to sign up for a new monthly messaging service.
Jacobs also addressed questions about the possibility of voice and high-speed data over D2D connections.
"We've had that for almost 30 years now," he said, pointing to established satellite providers such as Globalstar that provide voice and data services to dedicated satellite phones. "It's just a question of how much space resource does it take to support those things?"
He continued: "Does the fact that it's integrated in the cell phone increase that [demand]? If it was free, I think people would use it. But if it's not free, what is the market size? That's what I think the industry is trying to understand."
The wider market
Apple, with Globalstar, first broke the D2D market open in 2022. But now companies including AST SpaceMobile, SpaceX, Skylo, Lynk Global and others are working to offer similar services to other mobile customers, phone makers and wireless network operators.
One NZ in New Zealand this week became the first wireless operator to launch commercial D2D services through SpaceX's Starlink. T-Mobile will launch its own beta test of Starlink's service early next year.
T-Mobile hasn't discussed how much it might charge for its Starlink-powered D2D service. One NZ said current customers on its Pay Monthly plans will have access to its Starlink-powered D2D service for no extra charge.
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