Truth is stranger than fiction.
I read the articles you cited, and I still think your first explanation was more or less accurate. Rather, as you suggested in your first message, the satellite is used to relay the signals from a central terminal to the various ground stations where they are then transmitted via the normal terrestrial paging facilities. I suspect it is probably not feasible to get the kind of power out of a satellite that would trigger a pager buried deep in my pocket along with my change and keys. Besides, the satellite down links are on a different frequency that the paging units are tuned to. You were also correct in your earlier message that this use of satellite is cost effective, contrary to what might be the initial assumption.