This is pretty interesting. I work for an NGO and something like this looks really useful for people working in the field to allow some sort of simple communication/location when you don't have service, or it is super expensive.
There's a good reason why handheld or car mounted radios have been quite popular with NGOs all over the world. They're robust, reliable and simple. And in many cases, NGOs can get access to radio bands with more interesting transmission characteristics.