(Credit: Eoneren/Getty Images)
BARCELONA—In a nascent industry abounding with to-be-fulfilled promises of satellite-delivered mobile broadband from the likes of Starlink, AST SpaceMobile, and possibly Amazon’s Project Kuiper, Globalstar's focus on providing only messaging can seem quaintly limited.
But the company that began providing the Emergency SOS feature on newer iPhones in late 2022 pronounces itself comfortable with its position.
"What gives us a huge advantage over everyone else is, we've started this," said Chief Product Officer Mersad Cavcic. "Others are catching up, which is honestly great to see.”
In an interview Monday at MWC, Cavcic defined Globalstar's business advantage in terms of latitudes and altitudes. That starts with its satellite-specific spectrum, called MSS (mobile satellite service) for short, which international telecom regulators cleared worldwide decades ago. "For us, that regulatory piece has been in place for the last 30 years," he said.
Cavcic compared that "satellite spectrum for global reach" unfavorably with SpaceX's approach extending spectrum licensed in particular countries for supplemental coverage from space.
Relying on MSS, however, limits its compatibility to phones with the right hardware. That’s why Globalstar’s satellite messaging—which since iOS 18 has supported iMessage chats as well as emergency communication—is reserved for iPhones starting with 2022’s iPhone 14 series.
Cavcic cited the higher orbit of Globalstar’s satellites, at an altitude of 879 miles, as a further advantage over competitors in lower orbits. "We're further out, and as a result our constellations can be smaller and still provide global coverage," he said.
Where SpaceX needed to launch 230 direct-to-cell Starlink satellites to get that service to a state of commercial readiness, Globalstar has only 29 operational satellites in orbit, per astronomer Jonathan McDowell’s count.
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And SpaceX’s service will cost considerably more, at $15 a month for T-Mobile subscribers on all but its most expensive plan and $20 a month for AT&T and Verizon subscribers. "It's going to be really interesting to see how well T-Mobile is going to be able to sell this,” Cavcic said. “What I expect is going to be a more realistic model is to sell day passes."
Elon Musk’s increasingly polarizing behavior could also complicate that, he allowed: “There are people that don't drive Teslas because Elon Musk benefits from every sale of a Tesla.”
Globalstar, however, has itself not seen what smartphone subscribers would be willing to pay for its service. Apple extended the original two-year free trial by a year and has yet to say what Emergency SOS will cost after then.
Cavcic declined to speak much about customer usage, saying Apple “kind of owns that information entirely,” but did mention that Globalstar has “seen really interesting activities in areas of natural disasters in the last six months.”
“Those events, without a doubt, create usage spikes,” he said of such calamities as Hurricane Helene and Los Angeles' wildfires.
Apple saw enough demand overall to bankroll Globalstar's $1.1 billion order for a set of upgraded satellites; this C-3 constellation will feature 48 active satellites and six spares. “Additional capacity, more performance, really is what we're most excited about,” Cavcic said.
But after noting that Globalstar’s spectrum already provides more capacity than Starlink or AST SpaceMobile can offer, he stayed studiously vague about whether that would include voice or data service from space. “We're already in a better position to offer, kind of, next generation of services,” he said. “We will see if people really are willing to pay for additional capacity.”
Cavcic cited a use case favored by Globalstar CEO Paul Jacobs—"Netflix in the mountains"—to differentiate between technical feasibility and financial viability. "You certainly can," he said of providing such a service. "Can you deliver that cost effectively? That is the real question."