This fall Verizon It has launched emergency text messaging and satellite location services for compatible Android smartphones in the United States at no additional cost to customers. On August 28, the telecommunications giant announced a service partnership with Skylo, which develops ground infrastructure that allows L-band geostationary satellites to reach devices using the latest standards-based chipsets.

Device family Pixel Pro From Google and Samsung Galaxy S25 It should be among the first to access partner Skylo satellites, providing emergency narrowband connectivity when base stations are out of range.

“There is no cost to customers, and every powerful device can benefit from it, regardless of pricing plan,” Verizon spokesperson Karen Schultz told SpaceNews.

Starting next year, Schultz said Verizon customers with a compatible device will be able to send general text messages through Space, even to those not compatible with Skylo’s network. Verizon It became the first mobile carrier to announce plans to launch smartphone connectivity alongside Silicon Valley-based Skylo.

The companies did not disclose financial or technical details of their partnership, which comes two years after Apple enabled space SOS services with Globalstar’s L-band satellites on its latest iPhones.

Skylo previously said that compatible devices would be able to send and receive text messages with a 5 to 15-second delay via geostationary satellites in its network.

Verizon is also an investor in AST SpaceMobile, which is developing direct-to-smartphone satellites that would use cellular frequencies from telecom companies and other partners instead of L-band radio waves approved for use from space.

The connection from AST SpaceMobile satellites in low Earth orbit will also have lower latency and will reach standard smartphones already on the market.

“We are very excited to not only work with AST, but also to be a long-term investor in the success of their satellite service,” said Schultz. “We wanted to make sure that all of our customers with compatible devices had the same basic connectivity for satellite messaging until the satellite arrays were operational.”

Verizon’s terrestrial telecom rival AT&T is also one of AST’s SpaceMobile partners.

SpaceX plans to fly the first AST SpaceMobile batch of five operational satellites in the first half of September.

However, like the rival direct-to-smartphone service being developed by SpaceX, AST SpaceMobile needs to overcome concerns about interference to gain the regulatory approval it needs to provide commercial service.