Agreement enabling satellite service for Android smartphone users

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A new partnership between satellite phone maker Iridium and phone chip maker Qualcomm could open up a new world of connectivity for mobile phone users by allowing users of Android smartphones to use satellite. .

As a result of this agreement between the two companies, in places where mobile phone signals are not available, users will be able to send and receive messages by connecting their phones to satellites.

However, this benefit will be available only to those users whose phones run on the Android system and which have a Qualcomm chip installed.

This facility will initially be provided only for sending or receiving basic message i.e. text message in case of emergency i.e. emergency.

It should be noted that the Apple company has also announced that the satellite feature will be introduced in the iPhone 14 by September 2022.

British smartphone maker Bullitt has also beaten Apple to launch a satellite service. However, it has also announced to provide facility only for emergency messaging in certain places.

Under the agreement between Iridium and Qualcomm, the same facility will be offered to millions of smartphone users who do not have a specific brand of phone, but the company that manufactures the phone will have to provide this feature.

Why does the mobile phone signal and internet also disappear as soon as the electricity goes out in Pakistan?

Iridium is the first company to make satellite phone systems, sending its first satellite into space in 1997. As of 2019, Iridium had 75 satellites.

These satellites fly in space 780 km above the earth and can communicate with each other to transfer data.

Qualcomm has said that this feature called Snapdragon will only be included in the Premier chips for now and will not be available in cheaper phones.

However, later this service will be provided to tablets, laptops and even vehicles, which will not be limited to emergencies only. It is likely that a fee will be charged for this service.

Mobile phone connectivity through satellite is considered to be the next and future frontier of the world of communication which will solve a fundamental problem i.e. coverage, making communication possible even in areas where the signals of mobile phone companies are not available.

This problem becomes more complicated in rural and remote areas.

US billionaire Elon Musk's company Starlink is already working on providing wider coverage via satellite.

Satellite broadband is therefore faster and more reliable, but also more expensive than a cable or fiber connection.

How common communication via satellites will become in the future will also depend on legislation in different countries, as countries such as India and China have banned the use of satellite phones.