1. At the risk of sounding stupid, will governments allow something like this that can bypass gateways under control?
2. Can cellphone communication work this way on scale (like Iridium)? Bypassing providers like tmobile, sprint etc.
2. Can cellphone communication work this way on scale (like Iridium)? Bypassing providers like tmobile, sprint etc.
2) The purpose of the system (and the spectrum) will likely be broadband data, not hand-portable voice. So, it should be disrupting Time Warner and Verizon's cable and fiber offerings, not cellphones. The real value is internationally to have reliable broadband available anywhere.
[0] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Communications_Assistance_for_L...
You're unlikely to get one without the other.. if down the road you can get an affordable internet connection on your phone without having to deal with cellular networks, I'd bet that you would see a huge shift to VOIP.
Edit: Whoops, looks like phones probably won't be able to receive this signal practically.
"I believe Musk is, like Teledesic, planning to use the Ka-band. That means the smallest antenna would be the size of a large laptop" [0]