Subspace communication

Communication is sent using subspace transceivers. This uses a layer of subspace, that is an energy only layer of space. Communication across a single star system is nearly instantaneous. Subspace communication can travel 10 light hours in about 1 second. So there may be a slight delay for a communication to a ship or station on the far end of a system.

Using Sol as the example, Neptune is 4.3 light hours from the sun. If a starship is sending a message to Neptune from the exact opposite side of the planets orbit, the message will take 0.9 seconds to send. This causes a slight pause to happen before people reply, or interruptions in the conversation can seem a bit delayed.

Distance (ly)	Minutes	Hours	Days
1	14.5	0.24
5	72.5	1.21
10	145	2.42
15	217	3.6
20	290	4.8
25	362	6.04
30	435	7.25
35	507	8.5
40	580	9.7
45	652	10.9
50	725	12.1
60	870	14.5
75	1087	18.1
100	1450	24.2	1.01

Utility

Each transceiver has a unique ID code. By using this code, a message can be sent direct to a ship over any distance. Without the transceiver code, messages sent will sit and wait to be received. Each Navigation Beacons will hold the data until it's received by the correct transceiver. Then it's deleted from all beacons. This is true for directed, and indirect messages.
Note: Transceivers can not send or receive information while in hyperspace.

Access & Availability

All starships have a subspace transceiver built-in. Most citizens would not have one, though they could request access to the local transceiver without much problem. It usually costs a few credits for a message of any length, or a few credits per minute for a real time call. Calling Mars from Earth for example costs 1 $C per minute for access to the comm line. Inbound comms to a residence is not billed as the communication is started from elsewhere.