When every phone becomes a satellite phone, what happens to Asia’s telcos?

BEYOND the reach of a cell tower, a smartphone used to become a camera, map and not much else. In Japan this spring, more smartphones began “looking” up.

The country’s largest telecommunications company NTT Docomo switched on satellite messaging in April 2026. By July, five million customers had connected at least once.

No dish, special handset or visit to a shop was required. The service was available at no extra charge on dozens of phone models.