Ummm, YEAH.
Every time I read about "satellite phones" I laugh and wonder how the hell they propose to supply the required power and carry around a 2-foot dish antenna....
Answer: Cell tower relays. They just don't talk it about them...
Motorola’s Iridium system worked well, but it used/uses handsets that were large, in an era when very large cell phone handsets were the norm. It never made money, was going to be reentry-burned-up but the US state dep’t reportedly got money to keep it around, due to global coverage and signal security.