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Comment by Humphrey | Hacker News Reader

> One New Zealand wants to ensure everyone is safe during an emergency regardless of the provider they are with, so anyone with an appropriate phone will be able to call 111 in an emergency (when voice satellite calling is available).

This will a game changer! Even if their service is super expensive, anybody will be able to make emergency calls ANYWHERE! This will make PLB (personal location beacons) redundant!

I hope something similar comes to Australia soon

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Assuming that you’re still capable of verbal comms. The good thing about a PLB is that it’s generally a fairly definitive signal that something is wrong at a specific location. It also requires less dexterity to trigger and potentially has a bit higher signal to noise than accidental emergency calls.

Source: Australian with a PLB that I take offshore sailing and bushwalking. Also have a 2yo who is impressively adept at getting a locked phone to enter emergency call mode.

What's your take on having a PLB at sea? Are there scenarios where an EPIRB is required?

EPIRBs are required by law in Australia. They are attached to the vessel though, the PLB is attached to you. That's an important detail when those two things become suddenly separated.

I totally agree. Since 111 calls go to any available provider, regardless of your home network, this in effect means anyone in NZ has 100% Emergency service coverage. That's huge!

>This will make PLB (personal location beacons) redundant

Wouldn't this make the subscription satellite communications devices like inreach redundant, rather than PLBs? A safety conscious person in the wilds would probably still want a dedicated emergency device (?), only now it has another possible communication method to make it even more reliable.

PLBs as I understand it are designed specifically to be one-shot foolproof devices with no secondary comms, with guaranteed battery lives (15 years I think), robust cases etc. that just sit there until you press the 'Save me' button. A phone (or inreach which is closer but still has messaging etc.) is not a real replacement for that functionality as I see it. Mainly because the other things you use it for mean it can run out of batteries or whatever.

You are bang on about having a redundant PLB seperate from other comms channels.

I carry a PLB and an InReach when I am in remote areas. Partly because I’m often by myself but also InReach does go down sometimes and I’d prefer to have a dedicated reliable channel to search and rescue that I can just leave I my bag and forget about except replacing every 10 years!

How will anybody be able to make emergency calls from anywhere if it is super expensive?

In my country, calling official emergency numbers is always toll-free, and these calls can be made even from handsets without a SIM at all. I believe this is a legislated requirement for holding a spectrum license.

My guess is that it will be paid for by the government. Likely it won't be use super often as most people will have 4g/5g coverage already. This will just cover the instance where that isn't the case.

It probably will more than pay for itself, too. If it saves just one or two unnecessary S&R missions a year...

Am I reading something else, or have they changed it? The linked page says:

" Emergency We’ll ensure One New Zealand customers are safe during an emergency, so anyone with an appropriate One New Zealand phone will be able to call 111 in an emergency (when voice satellite calling is available). One New Zealand has dedicated part of its mid-band spectrum to enable the service. "

This says its only One (formerly Vodafone) customers.

edit: I notice the FAQ says something different and contradictory (which is what the parent mentioned), I wonder which is the truth?

It doesn't say it's only One... it just mentions it works for One and thus vaguely implies it doesn't work for others. The FAQ makes it explicit that all phones that support the band will be able to dial 111.

The way I read this was: anybody with a phone with support for the same 4g/5g frequencies that One operate one.

Frequencies have always been an issue with choosing a phone. I remember Telstra (Australia) rolled out a great 3g network (branded NextG) you needed a phone that supported 850mhz 3g. Early on, there were only a small set of phones that worked on this range.

I suspect (guess) that the same will be for this satellite 4G service.

Not sure it's going to change much at all.

I do a lot of bikepacking and everyone carries Garmin inReach or similar which allows you to send SMS and SOS via satellite in case of emergency.

You ideally want a seperate device like that because it has up to 14 days battery life and is a backup to your phone.

>I do a lot of bikepacking and everyone carries Garmin inReach or similar which allows you to send SMS and SOS via satellite in case of emergency.

You only hang out with well-off people, congrats. This will be great for people who don’t want to shell out another $15-20/mo + $300 for a device but still want to enjoy the outdoors.

> You only hang out with well-off people

Or people who think their lives are worth more than a few hundred dollars.

If you're travelling into remote areas with just your phone then you're going to be in a lot of trouble.

Yet millions of people enjoyed the wilderness before sat technology existed.

Having dropped my phone and smashed it in the middle of bushwhacking I second the need for a secondary device. But no reason it couldn't just be another phone.

I think Garmin's days are numbered in this area. You can buy a small prepaid mobile phone as a backup and leave it off, it won't weigh much and be far cheaper.

I am going to guess One New Zealand won't allow prepaid mobile phones to use the service initially other than 111 emergency calls.

Unfortunately it's only possible to buy high quality rugged cases for very expensive phones. Keeping your prepaid in your backpack might work for you, but I was strongly encouraged by my local backcountry search and rescue volunteers to keep my emergency communication device in immediate reach on the shoulder strap so that I can get assistance if partially incapacitated. This might be different if you don't recreate alone.

> I think Garmin's days are numbered in this area

Garmin and similar devices have proven reliability anywhere in the world.

SpaceX may prove itself to be a better proposition but it won't be anytime soon.

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