Yeah, thats the sort of thing that actually got me looking into radios, was the rapid radios ads on my local talk radio, thinking hmmm... that could come in very handy having long range comms for an emergency....but then find out that they all use LTE, so its kinda pointless in a situation where a cell phone wouldnt work....
for context on this, my wife is an over the road trucker, so having long distance comms for us is vital.... especially considering that any given truck load that she hauls "could" put her right in the path of a blizzard, hurricane or tornado... Still havent found a viable/reliable setup past cell phones for these types of situations unfortunately...