Apple using 85% of GlobalStar’s network capacity

[Cmaier]

Apple taking 85% of Globalstar network for Emergency SOS | AppleInsider

An SEC filing from Globalstar reveals that Apple plans to use 85% of its current and future network capacity for its services to iPhone 14 consumers, and pay for future satellite upgrades.

appleinsider.com

Sounds like Apple should just buy Globalstar. Side benefit: annoying Elon Musk.

 

[fooferdoggie]

its not like it is getting used all the time though.

 

[Cmaier]

its not like it is getting used all the time though.

Using 85% of capacity is using 85% of capacity. That means only 15% is available for other customers.

 

[Citysnaps]

I'm not sure I understand. Certainly sounds impressive

Emergency SOS low-bandwidth short messaging can't be using 85% of Globalstar capacity in any normal situation. Well, maybe in an end times scenario with rapturing on the horizon.

So that leaves other services; messaging, iCloud, Apple backbone infrastructure, etc.

And unannounced future services. Perhaps a true iPhone sat phone and network? Though I don't see how the economics of that makes sense. Off the top of my head, anyway.

Other views on this?

 

[fooferdoggie]

Using 85% of capacity is using 85% of capacity. That means only 15% is available for other customers.

but How is it even possible? I can see reserving that much but in reality how often is it going to be used? its not like the phone is connected to the satellite all the time.

 

[Cmaier]

A billion phones, a small percentage of which use bandwidth once in awhile, is apparently enough to add up. It’s also not clear how much bandwidth these satellites actually have.

 

[fischersd]

Actually, I think they're just reserving 85% of Globalstar's capacity for Apple. It doesn't mean they can't over-provision - they just kick everyone else off if they're getting close to the level of service that they've committed to Apple.

 

[Cmaier]

Actually, I think they're just reserving 85% of Globalstar's capacity for Apple. It doesn't mean they can't over-provision - they just kick everyone else off if they're getting close to the level of service that they've committed to Apple.

That’s not how I read the SEC report (https://sec.report/Document/0001366868-22-000059/). And given that Apple is paying 95% of capital costs for additional satellites, etc., I think it’s reasonable to assume that a large part of the network is dedicated to apple’s use.

 

[fischersd]

That’s not how I read the SEC report (https://sec.report/Document/0001366868-22-000059/). And given that Apple is paying 95% of capital costs for additional satellites, etc., I think it’s reasonable to assume that a large part of the network is dedicated to apple’s use.

Yes, they're reserving 85% of their capacity for Apple's use. It would be a shame to waste available bandwidth if that 85% was only 5% utilized at peak, but by limiting 15% of GlobalStar's capacity for "other business" if effectively keeps Samsung or Google from being able to utilize their SOS service for their handhelds.

I think this kind of a capital commitment on Apple's part is temporary - if all goes well, I think they'll definitely acquire GlobalStar.

You can see from their 2020 annual report that they already had their SOS service available.

https://investors.globalstar.com/static-files/7de8b614-2c55-4be7-870f-f4f36328aac6

...with multiple versions of their SPOT GPS Messenger available, it was just a matter of time before one of the handset makers went after this feature for themselves:

Long-term Review: SPOT Gen3 Satellite Messenger

I have used my Gen3 on dozens of trips and for hundreds of days. It is ideal for low & moderate risk trips in popular backcountry areas.

andrewskurka.com

 

[Cmaier]

More on this here: https://9to5mac.com/2022/09/12/iphone-14-satellite-comms/

Looks like it really is 85% of capacity, so everyone else has to share 15%.

 

[Citysnaps]

More on this here: https://9to5mac.com/2022/09/12/iphone-14-satellite-comms/

Looks like it really is 85% of capacity, so everyone else has to share 15%.

Impressive foresight on Apple's part. Will be interesting to see where this goes.

 

[fischersd]

Journalists writing things like this really should be giving their heads a shake: "Our sister site SpaceExplored last week revealed that Apple was expected to use 85% of Globalstar’s capacity for the service"

It's a reservation, not utilization. It will be interesting to see if they report network utilization numbers in the future, now that they'll have over a billion iPhones able to leverage their network.

This is similar to how Microsoft bought all of the 3 1/2" floppy disks in the market, just prior to IBM's OS/2 launch - so IBM could only make OS/2 available on CD's - almost no-one had CD-ROM drives at the time (the readers went for about $1200 each back then).

By locking in the (currently) only stable satellite provider for this service, they've kept their competitors from being able to launch similar offerings.

 

[fooferdoggie]

it has to just be reserved right now. especially when you see hw the messages will be so compressed.

 

[fischersd]

it has to just be reserved right now. especially when you see hw the messages will be so compressed.

Heh - think the one SPOT doc I saw said that they're limited to 72kbps, so, yeah, there's going to be considerable compression to make the available bandwidth useful.

 

[Nycturne]

Considering land line modems were 56kbps not that long ago, I think the text payloads for this will be fine.

 

[fischersd]

Considering land line modems were 56kbps not that long ago, I think the text payloads for this will be fine.

Yep, text compresses insanely well. They do have opportunity (if they're giving the 911 people an app to use this) to provide a lot more - but it's all textual data (GPS coordinates, etc) - now, if they add the capability to add pictures (for injuries, for example), they'll need to whittle that down to the smallest image possible. Heh. EGA resolution?

 

[Nycturne]

Yep, text compresses insanely well. They do have opportunity (if they're giving the 911 people an app to use this) to provide a lot more - but it's all textual data (GPS coordinates, etc) - now, if they add the capability to add pictures (for injuries, for example), they'll need to whittle that down to the smallest image possible. Heh. EGA resolution?

You know, on that topic, it seems like it would be an interesting use case for ML image reconstruction. Bring the original photo to as low a resolution as possible on the phone before sending it, and then use ML to reconstruct the original image on the other end. Worst case it isn't helpful, best case you can use a lot less bandwidth if the ML models are trained on appropriate data sets.