Is the business opportunity for satellite direct-to-device (D2D) on cell phones a done deal? Sort of. That was the consensus at the recent “Future of Wireless, AI and Convergence” web event organized by New Street Research and BCG, where execs from MNOs and other ecosystem players including AT&T, Verizon, Iridium and Deutsche Telekom said they see value.

Maybe it’s more accurate to say that the case has been accepted that there is viability in D2D, but different possible models: Which ones for which markets? How big will the markets be? And when? More about the discussion here from Constellations content partner Space Intelligence Report.

And there are some big “how” questions, too, when you look at the technology under the hood, driven by those business cases. Once you get past LEO vs. GEO, wideband vs. narrow, text vs. voice—more “vs.” than a Godzilla film festival—you get back to an essential how: How well will the various technologies and partners interoperate in the ecosystem? Remember the early days of 3G and 4G when some cell phones worked only with certain networks?

Skylo Technologies CEO Parth Trivedi spoke at the event. The company has built a Radio Access Network (RAN) using 3GPP standards, partnered with Qualcomm, Samsung, MediaTek and Sony. He emphasized the importance of the 3GPP standard, a given for any network to play in a non-customized cell phone world. Compliance with other standards will be necessary, too. For example, will the gNodeB signal processing live on the satellite to enhance downlink performance? Then you’ll want to virtualize the ground as much as possible with the DIFI standard. But if signal processing is to occur on the ground, putting less of a burden on the satellite, then eCPRI will be relevant, or a combination of both depending on the network architecture.

Here’s a key takeaway though: As Skylo’s Trivedi pointed out, well-designed standards like these aren’t a limitation, they actually spur innovation across the ecosystem and support flexible business decisions, like where to locate the signal processing, while maintaining interoperability. Across a rich and complex D2D supply chain, a lot of things will have to work together in different ways as the digital transformation of space continues.