Verizon has hedged its bets on the satellite business, signing a direct-to-device (D2D) deal with Skylo Technologies to launch an emergency messaging and location sharing service on select Google Pixel and Samsung phones over the next few months.
The carrier said the partnership will allow customers with compatible devices to send text messages from anywhere in the United States in early 2025.
Verizon's service for Android devices will complement Apple's satellite news offering for iPhones running iOS 18.
A Skylo representative said Mobile World Live (MWL) Verizon's news service is delivered via Viasat's L-band satellites.
Verizon said it will be the first mobile operator in the world to commercially launch complementary smartphone connectivity on Skylo's non-terrestrial network and the first mobile operator to launch a commercial D2D offering.
The agreement with Skylo also includes technical testing to provide IoT connectivity to companies offering their services in remote areas.
Earlier this month, Google announced that its new Pixel 9 smartphone family would be the first Android devices to be able to send SOS messages via satellite across the United States, as part of an agreement with Skylo. These will be available on the smartphones for two years at no additional cost.
Tim Farrar, president of TMF Associates, posted on X that Google had agreed to pay Skylo for emergency messaging capacity on the Pixel devices and that it “looks like Verizon is paying for the additional capacity for standard SMS.”
In another post, he noted that T-Mobile US pays SpaceX for the capacity of its Starlink satellites, a basic satellite service that is also free for consumers.
“Both set a precedent for any future contract with AST SpaceMobile,” he explained.
“I think it's a useful addition to their enterprise IoT services, but it's unlikely to expand the market enormously because the capabilities of mobile satellite services are limited to small amounts of much more expensive data, unlike terrestrial cellular networks, which can transmit much more data at far lower rates.”
AST SpaceMobile
Verizon also has an agreement with AST SpaceMobile to provide space-based broadband service directly to mobile phones.
In May, Verizon provided $100 million to AST SpaceMobile.
AST SpaceMobile is expected to launch its first five birds next month.
A Verizon representative said MWL One of the reasons for signing up with Skylo is the desire to “ensure that all of our customers with suitable equipment have the same basic satellite communications connection” until AST SpaceMobile’s satellites are operational.
