Apple has revealed that it will invest $450 million to bring the new iPhone 14 Emergency SOS via satellite to the U.S. and Canada, and says it is investing in critical infrastructure to support the feature through its Advanced Manufacturing Fund.
The funding was obtained through Apple’s Advanced Manufacturing Fund and will be used to improve Globalstar’s satellite network and ground stations. (Globalstar owns and operates the satellite network.) These stations have been equipped with high-performance antennas from Cobham Satcom in California, and the new service will be supported by 300 Globalstar employees.
In addition, funds from the Advanced Manufacturing Fund have already been used to help in the creation of the Ceramic Shield and create hundreds of jobs, while the installation of new antennas custom-built by Cobham Satcom is being partially financed. Antennas that receive signals from the Globalstar satellite constellation have already been installed in the satellite provider’s existing ground stations, which include sites in Nevada, Hawaii, Texas, Alaska, Florida and Puerto Rico.
The Emergency SOS via satellite application uses satellite communication to help iPhone users contact emergency services when stranded without a mobile phone signal. Apple has already revealed that this required a huge satellite network as well as a network of call centers in the United States and Canada.
The sources for this piece include an article in AppleInsider.
