If you happen to reside in a rural space of the UK, you might quickly have the ability to use your telephone for satellite tv for pc calls, messages and different commonplace knowledge use. On Tuesday, the nation's telecom regulator, Ofcom, proposed utilizing direct-to-device satellite tech to attach folks within the UK's "most rural and hard-to-reach locations," like mountains and distant villages.
Ofcom sees the tech complementing conventional networks, aiming to offer 100% cellular protection within the UK. The regulator mentioned the tech might additionally present backup protection throughout outages, supply service to ships and passengers in coastal waters with no connection and supply emergency 999 providers (the UK's model of 911) in distant areas.
In January, British telecom Vodafone made the world's first satellite video call using a standard mobile phone on a distant mountain in west Wales.
Concerning the regulatory particulars, Ofcom suggests amending present cellular spectrum licenses for frequencies already utilized by mobile suppliers (under 3 GHz). Nonetheless, the regulator additionally provided different approaches, together with introducing a brand new license for satellite tv for pc providers or permitting license-exempt use if sure circumstances are met. No matter its particular coverage strategy, Ofcom mentioned strict circumstances could be hooked up to keep away from interference with present spectrum customers within the UK and abroad.
Ofcom is opening a session interval with stakeholders from now to Could 20. Relying on the suggestions it receives, it might start authorizing direct-to-device calls later this 12 months.
The iPhone 14 collection was the primary commonplace handset to offer direct-to-satellite emergency messaging. In iOS 18, Apple expanded the performance past crises to any situation where you're off the grid. The Samsung Galaxy S25 series and Google Pixel 9 lately added similar functionality.
This text initially appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/cellular/smartphones/the-uk-could-greenlight-direct-to-phone-satellite-services-this-year-183504094.html?src=rss
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