Apple’s iPhone satellite ambition goes beyond rescuing hikers
Apple has spent billions of dollars to develop satellite connectivity for iPhone; I very much doubt it did so solely to rescue stranded hikers. The company will most certainly have had a bigger prize in its sights when it first began working with GlobalStar (now owned by Amazon). The most logical reason to invest in satellite coverage for its devices is the most obvious — to provide network infrastructure for new breeds of device and new service models. You don’t acquire access to massive amounts of bandwidth for nothing. And Apple’s steady introduction of new satellite-supported services shows it is interested in introducing these services, even though the offer isn’t extensive enough yet to require iPhone users to pay for access, yet. The decision not to charge for those satellite services suggests they’re just the thin end of the company’s plans for satellite deployment. It’s possible the company’s ambitions were limited by GlobalStar’s ability to put satellite constellations in orb