Hate him or love him, it’s hard to deny that certain products that Elon Musk has been involved with have had a major impact on the world we live in. Some prominent examples are PayPal and Tesla. However, you can’t disregard SpaceX, even if just for Starlink (which I’m using right now, to get internet access in a place with shoddy cellular connectivity).
Beyond Starlink though, SpaceX is doing a lot more, most especially with its recent collaboration with T-Mobile to build a satellite-to-phone service. First announced back in 2022, the project has just made a major step forward thanks to approval from the US Federal Communications Commission.
The FCC Has Just Approved T-Mobile And SpaceX’s Project That Can Give You Cellular Access Anywhere
I’m not the most outdoorsy person, but I do know that for a lot of people who love to spend their free time hiking, climbing mountains, and skiing, cellular connectivity is something that can’t always be depended upon. For most of those adventurers, satphones are one of the only ways to guarantee communication with the outside world—no, your Galaxy S24 Ultra won’t get the job done in such scenarios.
However, a lot of smartphones these days are starting to come with satellite connectivity. This is mostly a feature that you’ll see on phones made by Chinese manufacturers, as well as the Google Pixel 9 series, but such features require specific hardware and a subscription to an appropriate service.
With that in mind, you might better understand why T-Mobile’s service could be an absolute gamechanger. The major difference here is that T-Mobile’s new service is expected to work on regular smartphones registered to T-Mobile. It means the device doesn’t need any special hardware. The satellites involved will carry all the burden of specialized components instead.
T-Mobile Plans To Start Off With Text Messaging, Before Moving Into Voice And Data Functionality
Back at the very start of the year, SpaceX was able to use its special direct-to-device Starlink satellites to send and receive text messages through the T-Mobile network. Back then, T-Mobile said it planned to launch the service publicly this year, but there’s very little time left for that, though FCC approval to could make it an actuality. However, the service was used this year to send out an emergency alert.
Sometimes, text messages might not be enough though. That’s why it’s great that the companies have plans to expand support to voice and data soon after. The original expected timeframe was 2025, but if there are any delays getting the texting side of things deployed, it wouldn’t be unreasonable for “2025” to be delayed a little.
Other Network Carriers Have Concerns That This New Service Might Disrupt Regular Service
The FCC’s approval comes with the allowance for up to 7,500 Starlink satellites to be utilized for this service. While there doesn’t seem to be any issue with the text messaging aspect of the project, voice and data capabilities will involve increasing the radio emission power of those satellites. That’s where the concern comes from.
Back when this project was announced, AT&T raised certain concerns that the service could end up interfering with the wireless services that regular consumers enjoy. However, AT&T itself has plans for similar with AST SpaceMobile, but claims it is ready to demonstrate that its systems won’t cause any interference.
