AT&T to offer integrated cellular/satellite smartphone next year

AT&T and satellite operator TerreStar Networks announced plans for an integrated smartphone solution that will combine cellular wireless connectivity with the ability to connect to a satellite network as a backup.

Gone are clunky and awkward satellite device form factors that sported huge antennas, thanks to a rather large satellite--the 17,000-pound TerreStar 1--TerreStar launched in July. Signals can now be received by antennas in smaller form factors found in smartphones. That capability is opening up a new market for AT&T to target the enterprise, government, energy, utility, transportation and maritime users that have a need for mobile service outside of traditional cellular coverage areas in the United States, Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands and territorial waters. Coverage is available about 150 miles offshore.

Chris Hill, vice president of product management with AT&T, told FierceMobileIT that AT&T will be launching the TerreStar Genus dual-mode smartphone across its sales channels in the first quarter 2010, with an initial focus on enterprise clients and government users.

"The beauty of the service is the ability to carry on your hip the device you use every day and having the knowledge that if you lost terrestrial coverage, you have the ability to access the satellite," Hill said. "I've had a number of conversations with CIOs in various enterprises that are looking at truly having the ability to provide communications all the time through users...The form factor has always been the hurdle."

Hill also said that pricing of the satellite service will be 50 percent less than traditional satellite services on the market, such as Iridium and Globalstar. Those players, however, have the ability to offer global coverage. TerreStar's new satellite provides service to North America. Customers buying the GSM/GPRS/EDGE/WCDMA/HSDPA/satellite device would purchase the smartphone for about $800, buy a terrestrial mobile package and then add the satellite service for $25 per month, paying 65 cents per minute for voice use and $5 per megabyte of data usage. The device will run on the new Windows Mobile operating system 6.5 and include Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and GPS. TerreStar has not yet announced who the manufacturer of the device will be.

While the device has the inherent ability to seamlessly transfer between cellular and satellite connectivity, AT&T has opted to make the capability a hard transfer so that the user knows the call is transferring from cellular billing to satellite billing. Customers then receive one bill.

Hill said AT&T is interested in adding more satellite-enabled devices going forward, potentially offering truck-mounted hardware and differing rate plans depending on scenario and demand. Chip makers Qualcomm and Infineon are incorporating TerreStar's satellite capabilities in their next-generation of chips, making satellite connectivity another feature set. This will enable handset makers to develop EVDO, WCDMA and LTE phones that are satellite-capable and possibly bring in more operators, noted Jeffrey Epstein, president of TerreStar.

"It brings the cost down significantly when you have our frequency incorporated into chips," Epstein said in an interview.

For more:
- see this AT&T release

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