Qualcomm Collaborates with Iridium to Support Satellite Messaging in Smartphones

Qualcomm Technologies have announced that they will be collaborating with Iridium to deliver the latest in Satellite Messaging technology to smartphones, with the aim of revolutionising communication technology, for the purposes of emergency and recreational use around the world.

This world-first collaboration will introduce the new Snapdragon Satellite, designed to be the first satellite-based, two-way communication solution involving premium smartphones, for increased connectivity across the globe.

The Snapdragon Satellite will use elite 5G technology and be supported by Iridium’s pre-existing Satellite Constellation technology, which has been orbiting earth since 1997, providing users with strong signals and fast connections, without the need for high power solutions.

The existing Satellite Constellation technology is also designed to be fully weather resistant, allowing it to adapt and function in the most harsh and extreme conditions, without fault or interruption to service. Through more than 450 partners, this technology already provides invaluable communicational services to approximately two million customers around the world.

Smartphones equipped with a combination of the Snapdragon Satellite and Iridium’s Constellation Solutions would be capable of accessing global coverage, benefiting approximately 85% of the world’s surface that is currently without cellular coverage. With this innovative solution embedded into smartphones, emergency messages and regular texts with friends and family, would, for the first time, be possible from anywhere on the planet with a view of open sky, delivering a safer and greater connected world.

The collaboration of these two innovative satellite technologies will combine forces with Qualcomm to introduce the system into a number of high-end smartphones, with emergency messaging features expected to become available in select locations, and across certain Android smartphones, during the second half of 2023.

Qualcomm Technologies is the world’s leading wireless technology operator, with direct links to many of the leading global smartphone manufacturers, and, as a result, there is much greater scope to introduce the technology to a wider range of smartphones, across various brands, in the future.

Looking forward to digital technology beyond smartphones, Iridium has the ability to take its existing satellite solutions and enable similar applications for other personal and smart devices, for example vehicles, laptops and tablets, as well as smart home technology, including alarms and sensors.

Thanks to this collaboration, a new age of digital communication using smartphones is emerging and will inevitably make global interaction more accessible and efficient for us all, no matter where in the world we are.