Qualcomm, Iridium partner to bring satellite-based messaging to Android phones

FILE PHOTO: People visit a Qualcomm booth at the Mobile World Congress (MWC) in Shanghai, China February 23, 2021. REUTERS/Aly Song/File Photo

(Reuters) - Qualcomm Inc has partnered with Iridium Communications Inc to provide a satellite-based messaging service on premium smartphones running Google's Android operating system, the chipmaker said on Thursday.

The partnership comes months after Apple Inc unveiled a similar feature allowing iPhone 14 models to send emergency messages via satellite in some countries such as the United States and Canada. Those phones also contain a Qualcomm chip that can talk to satellites when there is no Wi-Fi or cellular data connection.