I remembered the following quote from The Matrix after answering the recent question about hacking into the Matrix from Zion:
Morpheus: Did Zion send word?
Dozer: No, another ship.
This quote suggests that even if Zion cannot hack into the Matrix directly, it can at least send messages to hoverships at (Matrix) broadcast level. (We don't know for sure if the Nebuchadnezzar was at broadcast level at the time. The ship was close enough to the Matrix to encounter a sentinel; however, it's possible the Nebuchadnezzar had dropped below broadcast level since this conversation occurred just after the Agent training program, which did not involve hacking into the Matrix.)
If Zion can potentially send messages to hoverships at broadcast level, can hoverships send messages to Zion from broadcast level?
Whether or not a hovership can transmit a message to Zion from broadcast level potentially raises another question: if hoverships like the Nebuchadnezzar or the Osiris can transmit a message to Zion from broadcast level, why didn't the crew of the Osiris send their emergency message (about the machine army digging toward Zion, which precipitated the Crisis Meeting in The Matrix Reloaded) directly to Zion instead of utilizing an emergency drop inside the Matrix? Was it just because the Osiris was under attack and couldn't generate enough power to transmit the message so far? Or was it entirely incapable of transmitting a message to Zion from broadcast level?
Answer
I found a cutscene from the video game Enter the Matrix in which Niobe orders the emergency message from the Osiris transmitted to Zion:
Drop down to Zion broadcast. I want this data transmitted immediately. Emergency encryption.
Niobe had just escaped from the Matrix with the emergency message moments before, so her hovership was at (Matrix) broadcast level at the time. The fact that her hovership had to drop down to "Zion broadcast" proves that hoverships cannot transmit messages to Zion from (Matrix) broadcast level. Matrix broadcast level is above Zion broadcast level, so it is impossible for hoverships to broadcast/hack into the Matrix and transmit messages to Zion simultaneously. This also explains why the Osiris had to use an emergency drop in the Matrix to warn Zion about the machine army (although it's also possible that interference from the attacking machine army would have prevented the Osiris from transmitting even if it had been in range of Zion).
Here's a captioned screenshot from a Youtube video of the cutscenes in Enter the Matrix with the relevant quote:
The relevant cutscene begins at about 12:47, and the screenshot is taken from 14:02.
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