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I feel like this will eventually kill dedicated sat phones, which are (a) horribly expensive, both for the gear and subscription plans, and (b) still not very r

I feel like this will eventually kill dedicated sat phones, which are (a) horribly expensive, both for the gear and subscription plans, and (b) still not very reliable. I feel like if Starlink is able to provide reliable SMS-only service at a reasonable price, it would kill like 95% of dedicated sat phone use cases, which would then make the other 5% economically unviable.

hedora 3y ago
Current iPhones can sort of do that with existing sat phone networks. I agree those networks are basically obsolete at this point, especially since there will probably be a second operational LEO network to compete with starlink in the next ten years.
philistine 3y ago
Never bet against the cell phone. I never believed cell phones would swallow satellite phones. I mean, they swallowed everything else but I didn't think they could connect to space. But they can!
- hn_throwaway_99 3y ago
  I understand what you're saying, and I agree with you, but I think it's more of a case of "small pocket computers" swallowed the cell phone than vice versa. Every brand of phone I owned pre-iPhone/Android (Nokia, Motorola, Sony Ericsson) basically got killed because the cell phone's functionality got subsumed into these "small pocket computers".
lxgr 3y ago
There's still the matter of spectrum: Unlike existing satphone services, Starlink doesn't have any of the precious global L-band or C-band spectrum required to make it available globally. That's why they're partnering with T-Mobile in the US and others elsewhere: Those operators can just lend Starlink some of their domestic spectrum. That's going to be much harder at sea, and there will always be a long tail of countries where it doesn't yet work. Safety operations that need something that works 100% of the time will probably not switch in a while. But yes, that probably doesn't matter as much for many current use cases.
- jessriedel 3y ago
  Sees like there should be plenty of bandwidth at many frequencies available over international waters. It's regulated by the ITU, but it's much less valuable so there should be plenty to rent/buy, no?
  - lxgr 3y ago
    That’s actually a good point: I don’t know how that spectrum is assigned! I thought ITU only coordinates internationally, but since it’s literally international waters, maybe that is enough?
qingcharles 3y ago
Agreed. When I had a satphone I can't remember even once using it for voice, only for texts.

hedora 3y ago

Current iPhones can sort of do that with existing sat phone networks. I agree those networks are basically obsolete at this point, especially since there will probably be a second operational LEO network to compete with starlink in the next ten years.

philistine 3y ago

Never bet against the cell phone. I never believed cell phones would swallow satellite phones. I mean, they swallowed everything else but I didn't think they could connect to space. But they can!

hn_throwaway_99 3y ago
I understand what you're saying, and I agree with you, but I think it's more of a case of "small pocket computers" swallowed the cell phone than vice versa. Every brand of phone I owned pre-iPhone/Android (Nokia, Motorola, Sony Ericsson) basically got killed because the cell phone's functionality got subsumed into these "small pocket computers".

lxgr 3y ago

There's still the matter of spectrum: Unlike existing satphone services, Starlink doesn't have any of the precious global L-band or C-band spectrum required to make it available globally. That's why they're partnering with T-Mobile in the US and others elsewhere: Those operators can just lend Starlink some of their domestic spectrum. That's going to be much harder at sea, and there will always be a long tail of countries where it doesn't yet work. Safety operations that need something that works 100% of the time will probably not switch in a while. But yes, that probably doesn't matter as much for many current use cases.

jessriedel 3y ago
Sees like there should be plenty of bandwidth at many frequencies available over international waters. It's regulated by the ITU, but it's much less valuable so there should be plenty to rent/buy, no?
- lxgr 3y ago
  That’s actually a good point: I don’t know how that spectrum is assigned! I thought ITU only coordinates internationally, but since it’s literally international waters, maybe that is enough?

qingcharles 3y ago

Agreed. When I had a satphone I can't remember even once using it for voice, only for texts.