(Credit: T-Mobile)
T-Mobile is lowering the price of its cellular Starlink service to $10 per month as the carrier prepares to launch the satellite service in July.
"After gauging the incredible response from customers—including broader than expected interest from competitor’s customers—we’ve set our final launch pricing for T-Satellite at just $10 a month," T-Mobile CEO Mike Sievert said during a Thursday earnings call.
The 10-per-month price also applies to AT&T and Verizon customers, who’ll be able to access the satellite connectivity through a downloadable eSIM. “This gen one pricing will be good for at least a year,” Sievert says.
The carrier made a splash during the Super Bowl with a commercial that teased the launch of a cellular Starlink beta service for all US users, regardless of carrier. At the time, it said cellular Starlink would formally launch in July, at which point it would be free for T-Mobile customers on the highest tier plans, at least until the end of this year. All other T-Mobile users would pay $15 per month, while those on rival carriers would be charged $20 per month.
Briefly, the company also offered an early adopter discount for T-Mobile users that locked in a $10-per-month price at launch.
Now it looks like the carrier is becoming more aggressive to attract users as AT&T and Verizon work on their own satellite services with partners such as AST SpaceMobile. The cellular Starlink service essentially operates as an orbiting cell tower system that can beam text-based messages to users in rural and remote locations. The constellation currently spans over 560 satellites and will eventually offer data downloads, possibly later this year, and voice calls.
T-Mobile adds that “hundreds of thousands customers” have been able to send satellite messages through the cellular Starlink beta. The carrier has been expanding access to the beta, including to consumers on rival networks.
Some early customer testimonials have reported shaky signal quality, but T-Mobile has told PCMag it’s working to improve the service based on user feedback.
UPDATE: If you already got the early adopter discount, T-Mobile says: "$10/month is the price across the board now, we extended the promo offer and period to give as many people as possible the opportunity to lock in the service at a great value." So it doesn't look like your fee will drop an extra $5.