(Credit: T-Mobile)
T-Mobile customers can finally sign up to try SpaceX’s cellular Starlink service, which will give them access to satellite-based messaging early next year.
The carrier today opened registration for a beta program meant to test the satellite connectivity for phones. It comes after the FCC cleared SpaceX’s cellular Starlink satellites for commercial operations last month.
“The T-Mobile Starlink beta program is open and free for all T-Mobile postpaid voice customers with a compatible device,” the carrier says. “The beta gives a historic sneak peek to a not-so-distant future mostly free of cellular dead zones.”
The Starlink “direct to cell” service promises to end dead zones by using SpaceX’s satellites to act as orbiting cell towers, giving customers a way to receive a signal even in rural and remote areas. Specifically, T-Mobile says the satellite connectivity will work in “500,000 square miles of land in the United States not covered by Earth-bound cell towers.”
SpaceX’s tests have shown the satellites can beam download rates of up to 17Mbps, and send signals capable of reaching phones near a window or in the user’s pocket. “Among other results, the satellites have been able to communicate with multiple models of unmodified Samsung, Apple, and Google devices using [T-Mobile’s] PCS G Block spectrum,” the company said in March. In addition, the technology was used in October to provide emergency SMS texting for hurricane victims in the southeast US.
For now, the cellular Starlink service will be limited to satellite-powered text messaging, although support for voice and data are planned. Still, T-Mobile noted: “The experience is expected to be much more user-friendly than other satellite messaging services currently in market. For example, users will not need to hold their phone up [to the sky] to search for a signal. Both inbound and outbound messages are sent and received just like any other message.”
It’s unclear how many T-Mobile subscribers will be invited into the program. But the carrier says it’ll prioritize people who work in emergency services. In New Zealand, local carrier One NZ also plans on offering access to the cellular Starlink service this week for customers in the country.
When it launches, we're eager to see how T-Mobile's cellular Starlink tech performs and compares to Apple’s satellite-based emergency messaging. SpaceX recently completed the first stage of the cellular Starlink constellation, which currently spans over 340 satellites in orbit.