Las Vegas, Nevada - Along with Apple, more companies are unveiling ways to message via satellite. These promising new services will not only let you send an emergency message when there's no phone signal in range, but even let you chat as you would normally. And that's just the beginning.

You don't have to head out into the desert to find areas without mobile phone network. Mountains, rural areas, and even some poorly designed buildings can make it hard to find signal.

But here in the desert to the west of Las Vegas, we can still send text messages. Without a connection to the mobile phone network, the smartphone from the British manufacturer Bullitt can communicate with a satellite orbiting Earth.

Bullitt Satellite Connect (BSC) is the name of the system, presented at the sprawling annual tech fair CES in Las Vegas at the start of January.

Bullitt's satellite service is to be available internationally in the first quarter of 2023, and the communications company says it's not limiting the service to more rugged specialist phones like the Moto Defy.

The service relies on hardware developed in partnership with chipmaker Mediatek and an app called Bullitt Satellite Messenger. Electronics manufacturers can license this and build it into their own devices.

The fact that a smartphone can communicate with Inmarsat satellites at a distance of over 22,000 miles is down to the use of a Mediatek chip that transmits signals in the L and S bands.

At the moment, the service lets you send SMS messages with 144 characters, as well as emergency messages. And you can not only send messages, but also receive them.

Sending SMS messages works reliably under the test conditions in the desert on a cloudless day, taking just under 20 seconds. According to Bullitt, all you need is a clear view of the sky.

In practice, your messenger service just connects to satellite whenever there's signal in your mobile network. Recipients receive the satellite SMS as normal messages in their SMS app, and can download the Bullitt app and reply.

So who needs a service like this? Well, not anyone who spends most of their time in a city.

But anyone who goes on hikes in the country on more off-the-beaten-track holidays, or who likes to sail or head up mountains, may want to make sure they can stay in touch with friends and family.

The main selling point remains that you can always reach someone in an emergency, but anyone who wants to be able to message people no matter where they are will want this service.

Bullitt founder Richard Walton says rescue workers who need to stay connected will likely appreciate this service. The same goes for the millions of US citizens who were without power and mobile phone signal for days during the last hurricane in Florida.

Last but not least, the satellite route can be an easy way to cover gaps in mobile networks and help governments save on expensive infrastructure, especially in large countries.

If there is no radio mast, then satellites are a viable alternative. And SMS messages are only the beginning. Walton says that in two years, voice calls should be possible. Satellite mobile data for keeping your apps online is also planned.

Bullitt is not alone with the SMS service via satellite. Apple made this technology a coveted feature in its iPhone 14, which can communicate with Globalstar satellites in emergencies.

But for now, it only works with emergency messages and positioning information, and in a handful of countries.

At the CES in early January, Chip manufacturer Qualcomm, one of the largest semiconductor manufacturers in the world, presented Snapdragon Satellite hardware and a similar service.

With the second generation chips of the Snapdragon 8 platform, manufacturers should be able to build satellite radio into their smartphones.

Qualcomm uses the L-band of the Iridium satellite system in low Earth orbit for transmission, and relies on technology from Garmin for emergency calls. In addition to smartphones, laptops, tablets, cars, and other devices may also soon communicate with satellites.

Qualcomm is keeping quiet on prices, and sees itself more as the technology supplier. What the manufacturers do with the hardware and their own services is up to them.

Bullitt is already naming prices, and depending on the number of monthly messages, subscriptions are planned to cost between $4.99 and $29.99 per month.

Sending up to 250 satellite messages a year will cost you $60. Recipients pay nothing. Even the reply by satellite is charged to the subscriber.