Reading’s Bullitt Group partners with chipset supplier MediaTek on satellite messaging phone
Reading-based smartphone company Bullitt Group has partnered with MediaTek, a chipset supplier, to power its upcoming satellite-to-mobile messaging smartphone.
Satellite-enabled smartphones are shaping up to be the next big thing in the smartphone industry, with both Elon Musk and Apple reportedly in development on one.
Launching in quarter one of 2023, Bullitt’s new phone looks to be getting the jump on both. It will incorporate a satellite SOS feature which will be free of charge when the device initially launches.
Bullitt’s relationship with MediaTek goes back 18 months, with the firms working together to enable Bullitt’s next generation of 5G-designed devices to include direct to satellite communication.
Bullitt is the first to use MediaTek’s 3GPP NTN (Non-Terrestrial Network) chipset, with proprietary software and service components being developed in parallel to provide the over-the-top satellite messaging service.
Richard Wharton, Co-founder at Bullitt Group, said: “Bullitt designs and manufactures mobile phones under brand licenses from Cat (Caterpillar Inc) and Motorola.
“Over 13 years, we have developed a deep understanding of our customers who, due to the nature of their lifestyle or job, often find themselves in the great outdoors and frequently on the fringes of cellular coverage.
“Globally, mobile phone users lose signal for tens of billions of hours each year… Americans alone lose cell coverage for over 22 billion hours annually. Loss of signal is something we have all experienced at some time. Depending on the situation, that can mean inconvenience, frustration, anxiety, lost productivity or even loss of life.
“We have known for a long time that the answer was in satellite but an ‘invisible’ and seamless integration into a smartphone creates enormous technical challenges.
“MediaTek and Bullitt share a pioneering spirit and a history of innovation so now, nearly two years into our relationship, we jointly stand at the forefront of a new era in telecommunications and the quickest, simplest way for our carrier channel partners to offer total peace of mind to their customers”
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The device’s software only uses the satellite link when no cellular or Wi-Fi connection is available, with the device able to contact the user’s existing contacts, linking to the contact’s cellular network via satellite. Bullitt says it will take around 10 seconds to connect to the satellite and send a message.
JC Hsu, Corporate Vice President and General Manager of Wireless Communications Business Unit at MediaTek, said: This relationship carries on our longstanding history of innovation and leadership in the formulation of the 3GPP NTN standard, which combines cellular and satellite connectivity in the same device.
“In addition to the most recent mobile technology and the most sophisticated, highest-performing cellular connectivity features we have been working on, the 3GPP NTN effort advocates allowing device manufacturers access to satellite connectivity.
“We are very proud of having created the two-way satellite messaging technology used in this first commercially available phone and for being the pioneers in creating the ecosystem based on 3GPP NTN standards for satellite communication.”
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Featured image credit: Bullitt Group
