Perhaps I was overly categorical. Certainly satellites could be used for telephone calls, but my impression is that this was never a dominant use, except maybe

Perhaps I was overly categorical. Certainly satellites could be used for telephone calls, but my impression is that this was never a dominant use, except maybe for overseas calling (given the expense of undersea telephone cables). e.g. I found this government report report from 1983 stating that "microwave is the chief means of transmitting long-distance telephone calls..." in the U.S., this is well after the advent of satellites: https://www.google.com/books/edition/A_Five_year_plan/NbGS1AoVfr8C https://www.google.com/books/edition/A_Five_year_plan/NbGS1A...