According to IEEE Spectrum, shortwave radio has long offered a way to reach practically anywhere on Earth without heavy infrastructure. That makes it attractive for remote locations where satellite links are costly or unavailable. The trade-off is speed: digital data rates over shortwave are significantly lower than what satellite communications can provide.
Hermes, the digital radio profiled in the article, is positioned as a response to that limitation. By focusing on digital messaging rather than voice or high-bandwidth links, it aims to make shortwave a more practical channel for getting messages to the world's most isolated places.