BICS to offer Lynk satellite-direct-to-phone coverage

Global communications platform BICS has signed an agreement with satellite-direct-to-phone specialist Lynk to help it cover remote areas.

The move comes soon after Elon Musk unveiled his own satellite-direct-to-phone ambitions, which brought the whole concept to prominence, thus indirectly helping industry incumbents such as Lynk. It’s easy to see how an international communications provider like BICS would be keen to incorporate this kind of technology into its portfolio to be able to promise ubiquitous coverage.

“BICS firmly believes that connected communities are stronger communities,” said Mikael Schachne, VP Telco Market at BICS. “With Lynk, we recognized the chance to create something very meaningful and special for our mobile network operators’ partners and their subscribers. This partnership is about building bridges so that more people can connect to and benefit from a connected society than ever before.”

“Our partnership with BICS will allow MNOs to affordably expand their coverage and connect more people, saving lives and accelerating economic development for those living in the remotest parts of the world,” said Charles Miller, Lynk CEO and co-founder.

It should be stressed that, right now, satellite-direct-to-phone technology only supports fairly limited bandwidth, so the extent to which it will contribute to the economies of those remote regions is presumably limited. On the other hand some connectivity, however minimal, is certainly a lot better than none.

Barely a day has gone by since the big Musk reveal without a new bit of satellite-direct-to-phone news and the BBC recently uncovered a UK smartphone maker that is focusing on the sector. Bullitt’s ruggedised devices are supported by a couple of as-yet unnamed satellite networks and will be launched early next year, according to the report, so it may not be long before we find out whether all this hype is justified.

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