Former Qualcomm boss Paul Jacobs is taking over as chief executive of Globalstar, a satellite company that supports Apple’s Emergency SOS via satellite service on iPhone 14 (and, soon, later) models.

Will Feuer for The Wall Street Journal:

Jacobs, the son of Qualcomm co-founder Irwin Jacobs, served as CEO of Qualcomm from 2005 to 2014 and helped turn the chip maker into a stalwart servicing the smartphone industry. He was ousted from the company’s board in 2018 after pursuing a long-shot bid to take Qualcomm private…

Jacobs said he took the Globalstar job because it seemed like a good cultural fit, adding that running a midsize company was appealing…

Like its peers, Louisiana-based Globalstar has for years struggled to make its constellation of satellites profitable amid hefty maintenance costs.

Last year, Globalstar struck a deal with Apple to power the iPhone maker’s emergency-texting system, a partnership that gave Globalstar a deep-pocketed customer and a steady stream of revenue. Apple’s emergency-texting system, called Emergency SOS, enables all iPhone 14 models to send messages to emergency services via a satellite connection when outside of a cellular range.

Apple said it would invest some $450 million in infrastructure for its emergency-satellite service, with most of that going to Globalstar to upgrade aging satellites.

MacDailyNews Take: Just as it saved Globalstar, Apple’s Emergency SOS via satellite service on iPhone saves lives.

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