- When it comes to direct-to-device satellite texting, Skylo is zigging while others are zagging
- Skylo has created partnerships with a couple of Android original equipment manufacturers
- When used for emergency satellite texting, the Android phones and Skylo’s service can be used with, or without, an MNO partner
There are three different approaches to how companies are delivering direct-to-device (D2D) satellite texting to consumers, and it can seem like you need a white-board to sort it all out. There are already big names, using two different approaches. But Skylo, a company that has flown under the radar, is taking a different angle.
The first approach is for a satellite operator to partner with a wireless provider. T-Mobile’s partnership with SpaceX is the prime example. T-Mobile is providing emergency texting to its customers as well as customers of competing providers such as AT&T and Verizon. This service, called T-Satellite, delivers D2D texting via SpaceX’s low-Earth orbit (LEO) satellites in conjunction with T-Mobile’s network.
The second approach is to bypass the wireless carrier and provide satellite emergency texting via the device.
The main example of this approach is Apple’s partnership with Globalstar to provide emergency texting for people who own an iPhone 14 or newer model. This service also uses LEO satellites, but it’s focused on the device rather than a particular mobile network operator (MNO).
If a person happens to be a T-Mobile customer and also owns a newer iPhone, there’s a priority arrangement where T-Mobile will provide the emergency texting service first. But if for some reason the service isn’t available through T-Mobile, then the iPhone satellite service kicks in.
Skylo’s approach
There’s a third approach to providing D2D satellite texting, and that's as a complement to carrier services. This is the approach being taken by Skylo.
Tarun Gupta, Skylo’s co-founder and chief product officer, told Fierce the company not only provides emergency D2D texting but also texting for whenever a user doesn’t have access to regular terrestrial cell service. In other words, it doesn’t have to be an emergency.
Skylo has created partnerships with a couple of Android original equipment manufacturers.
Its satellite service is supported by the Samsung Galaxy S25 family of phones, but the service must be enabled by an MNO.
Separately, Google’s Pixel 9, 10 and Pixel Watch 4 have the Skylo satellite service natively embedded, which means that in certain countries (including the U.S. and Canada) Google Pixel provides some satellite services as a feature of the phone and does not require an MNO partner.
Fierce asked if Skylo’s satellite texting was basically comparable to Apple’s iPhone texting, because it can bypass the MNOs, at least on the Pixel phones.
Gupta said, “The answer is generically ‘yes.’ Users that are in one of our 37 countries with a compatible device can communicate over satellite when out of Wi-Fi or cellular coverage and there is a clear view of the sky.”
However, Skylo is also partnering with a few MNOs.
Verizon is one wireless operator that’s on the record for using Skylo. Verizon customers with the select Android phones can connect to Skylo’s service to text 911 in emergencies, and they can also text other Verizon customers who have the select devices.
Gupta said, “Traditional texting requires a phone number, and phone numbers are distributed by mobile operators. So, for peer-to-peer messaging, there needs to be a partnership between an MNO and Skylo. But, for connectivity to an emergency response center, no phone number is required, and those messages can be sent without an MNO.”
Deutsche Telekom has also announced a partnership with Skylo and plans a commercial launch soon.
“We’re that complementary network provider that carriers are looking for to augment their network,” said Gupta. “We're supporting them across their major Android lines.”
How Skylo’s D2D works
Skylo doesn’t have any of its own satellites. Rather, it partners with GEO operators, including Viasat/Inmarsat, Ligado, TerreStar and EchoStar.
In terms of working with GEO operators, Sita Sonty, partner and managing director with the consulting firm AlexPartners, said data packets from GEO satellites are smaller than data packets from LEO satellites, making for a better business case.
But Richard Haas, spectrum policy consultant at LS telcom UK, said Skylo’s use of GEO satellites is less attractive for D2D because the satellites are further away, causing more of a latency issue than if LEO satellites are used.
For its part, Skylo operates its own terrestrial technology, including a radio access network (RAN), its own core network with a SIM management platform, as well as a 24x7 network operations center and a billing platform.
“Basically, we have all the exact same infrastructure that a Verizon or an AT&T or a T-Mobile would have, and we use satellite operators as a partner, just like a dark fiber provider would or a tower operator would,” said Gupta.
Along with providing the satellites, Skyo’s satellite partners also provide the spectrum frequencies for terrestrial devices to operate upon. Gupta said, “We currently operate commercial services in the 3GPP-ratified bands: the L Band (N255) and S Band (N256). The 3GPP’s Release 17 brought the L band and the S band spectrum for use for non-terrestrial networks and direct-to-device. So, we use satellite operators that have this L and S band spectrum.”
Emergency texting fills a bigger need than anticipated
Gupta said he’s been surprised by how many people are actually using Skylo’s emergency texting service.
“I’ve had a cell phone for probably 35 years or so, and I can't remember the last time I called 911. So, I did not expect it to be used at any sort of volume,” he said. “However, what we're finding is that people are using the service more and more, and we're saving lives on a daily basis.”
At first everyone associated satellite texting with outdoor adventurers. But it’s being used in a much wider variety of circumstances. A parent used it to reach emergency response when a child was lost. Drivers have used it when their cars break down in remote areas. One person even used the emergency SOS when they were being menaced by a bear.
“We have found that over 60% of people that use this SOS service, the issues are vehicle related,” Gupta said.
Making the service easy for users
Skylo has worked with Android phone makers to figure out the easiest user journey. After all, it wouldn’t be cool if you were being attacked by a bear, and you had to stop and figure out how to access the satellite function on your phone.
Gupta said the Skylo service is set up so that people can simply use their phones in the familiar way. They can text 911, and if there’s no cellular or Wi-Fi, their phone will default to the satellite app, which directs to emergency response.
Skylo was founded at the end of 2017, and it now has more than 120 employees across three geographies — its corporate headquarters in the San Francisco Bay area; its engineering and RAN team in Finland; and a bigger engineering plus back-end team in Bangalore, India. The company has raised more than $180 million in venture capital.