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> Apple has partnered with Globalstar to use geostationary satellites I haven't read the announcement, but Globalstar's constellation is in LEO.

• gtvwill 4y ago
  Yeah but their satellites are basically oversized analogue relays. So bandwidth is bugger all with little capacity to increase it. So Leo or not it's like having CDMA speeds as your cap. Pretty much useless for anything other than a GPS location ping for emergency use.
• tshaddox 4y ago
  Indeed. Until a few years ago I was also under the impression that the satellite phone constellations were geostationary or at least geosynchronous. I remember growing up in the 90s hearing about satellite phones and how they had a very noticeable delay, which I assumed meant they were way up there. But perhaps that was just an older generation of constellations, because Globalstar and Iridium (by far the most popular networks in use by consumer-grade devices) are definitely LEO.
  • walrus01 4y ago
    inmarsat does sell a handheld satellite phone product (google "inmarsat isatphone") which uses narrow band data channels and handhelds to talk to geostationary satellites. Its coverage is not quite as solid or reliable as iridium, because you can be easily obstructed by a mountain on your south side if you're at latitude 45N or something, and doesn't extend beyond about 70 degrees north, but it's also priced cheaper than iridium for the hardware and the monthly service. what most people think of as a satellite phone is indeed LEO since iridium has the lion's share of the market.
• mr_toad 4y ago
  1400km, compared to 550km for Starlink.