The archive · Hardware & Devices · Strategic decision · 2022–2023
Lynk Global bets carriers resell satellite texting to ordinary phones
Lynk turns LEO satellites into orbiting cell towers for unmodified phones; by Dec 2022 it had 23 carrier agreements and planned texting for spring 2023.
Lynk Global
What the business is
Lynk Global builds low-Earth-orbit satellites that act like cell towers in space, connecting unmodified smartphones outside terrestrial coverage; it does not sell to consumers directly but to mobile network operators, who resell satellite texting to their own subscribers.
How it started
Lynk Global is one of the startups betting that direct satellite access to smartphones without modifications opens billions of devices. Its timing rode a wave set by larger players: Huawei and Apple shipped phones with satellite texting in late 2022, SpaceX and T-Mobile announced direct-to-phone LEO plans, and by then Lynk and AST SpaceMobile were already building their own LEO networks for ordinary 5G phones. Lynk CEO Charles Miller welcomed the giants' marketing: 'They educated the market. It's only going to make people want more.'
What happened
By the IEEE Spectrum article's date (27 Dec 2022) Lynk had agreements with 23 telecom providers to begin commercial operations in 2023, announced via Businesswire on 28 Sep 2022, and planned commercial service to its mobile-network-operator partners by spring 2023. Its first-generation satellites carry relatively small 1-square-meter antennas with software-defined radios that can hop frequencies as the satellite crosses countries, with 4-square-meter antennas planned later; IEEE Spectrum's table showed 12 satellites deployed by end-2023, a planned 5,110-satellite constellation at 500 km, and completion targeted for 2027. Near-term service was satellite texting, not the higher-capacity voice or video links the splashier announcements promised.
No ending yet — it is still running.
Background
Lynk Global builds low-Earth-orbit satellites that act as orbiting cell towers, connecting unmodified smartphones outside terrestrial coverage. Its premise, echoed in IEEE Spectrum's December 2022 feature, is that direct satellite access to phones that need no modification unlocks billions of devices — a far bigger market than the bulky satphones of the 1990s.
Lynk's bet is that the network can start small: first-generation satellites with 1-square-meter software-defined antennas offering texting through mobile operator partners, then bigger antennas and more capacity as the constellation grows. By the article's date it had signed 23 telecom providers to begin commercial operations in 2023, with service planned for spring 2023, 12 satellites by end-2023, and a 5,110-satellite constellation at 500 km targeted for completion by 2027.
The company positioned itself against rivals promising voice and data: its near-term product was satellite texting, and CEO Charles Miller argued that the splashy 2022 launches by Apple, SpaceX and others had educated the market — 'It's only going to make people want more.' As of 28 Dec 2022 the constellation was still in the building stage, with commercial service and its first results still ahead.
What has to be true
- Direct satellite access to unmodified phones opens billions of devices instead of a niche satphone market.
- Software-defined radios let one satellite hop frequencies as it crosses borders, so a small constellation can serve many operators.
- Partner carriers already hold the customer relationship, so Lynk resells connectivity through them instead of building consumer distribution from scratch.
- Rivals' splashy 2022 launches educated the market, so Lynk entered 2023 with demand pre-sold.
What can be applied
Let incumbents sell the category: Apple and SpaceX spent 2022 advertising satellite-to-phone, and Lynk let that hype educate the market while it signed the carriers who would resell the service.
Aftermath
As of 28 Dec 2022 Lynk Global was still building: it held agreements with 23 telecom providers to begin commercial operations in 2023, planned its first service for spring 2023, and expected 12 satellites deployed by end-2023 on the way to a 5,110-satellite constellation targeted for 2027. IEEE Spectrum noted that even the newer LEO networks advertised texting rather than high-capacity voice or video, and that operators would decide how to package the bandwidth. Whether Lynk hit its spring 2023 target and how the market received the service was not yet visible in the source article.
Sources
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