Apple is committed to enhancing its emergency satellite texting features and will spend hundreds of millions of dollars to do so.
The tech giant announced Thursday that it will spend $450 million collaborating with U.S. companies to enable its new emergency satellite texting feature.
One of the biggest beneficiaries of the decision is Globalstar, a Louisiana-based company that operates the satellites that make the feature possible, according to CNBC.
While Apple is not taking an equity stake in Globalstar, the company is committing to spend money on equipment and the service’s operations. The funds will pay for the satellites and equip ground stations with a new antenna designed by Apple.
The company’s decision aims to enhance its emergency SOS and satellite features on new iPhone 14 models, which could help considerably in some emergency scenarios.
For instance, if users are out of range of a cellular tower, like when camping in a remote area, they can still connect to emergency services by pointing their phone to the sky and connecting to one of 24 Globalstar satellites. The official launch of the feature will go into effect via an iPhone software update later this month.
Apple said the feature is free for two years but has since raised the possibility of charging for the services after, explaining that the operating cost is high, partly because it is not entirely automated and requires a human-staffed call center to work the service.
The tech giant will financially contribute to Globalstar through the Apple Advanced Manufacturing Fund, which the company uses to support U.S.-based suppliers.
Since launching in 2017, the fund has paid out hundreds of millions of dollars to companies like Corning, Finisar, XPO Logistics, and Copan Diagnostics, for essential items ranging from laser components to COVID-19 test kit parts, according to CNBC.
Through these initiatives, Apple claims to deliver on its commitment to increase spending with U.S.-based companies. In 2021, the company announced an acceleration of its U.S. investments, with plans to make new contributions of more than $430 billion over five years.
