[phire]

Android phones stop sending location updates when they go out of cellphone reception.

A solution that can continue sending updates from any point on earth costs a lot more than one that only works in range of cellphone networks.

[RealityVoid]

While true, if the airplanes already send 15 minutes updates, the infrastructure is already there. It seems logical simply increasing the ping frequency should not lead to a proportional increase in cost.