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https://www.t-mobile.com/news/un-carrier/fi...e-with-t-mobile - First SpaceX Satellites Launch for Breakthrough Direct to Cell Service with T-Mobile
January 03, 2024
HAWTHORNE, Calif. — January 3, 2024 — 3…2…1…Lift off! Today, T-Mobile announced that SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket launched the first set of Starlink satellites with Direct to Cell capabilities, following the livestreamed webcast last night. This is a significant milestone following last year’s joint announcement of the Coverage Above and Beyond initiative, which aims to bring connectivity nearly everywhere in the U.S. for Un-carrier customers — even in many of the most remote locations previously unreachable by traditional cell signals from any provider … aka dead zones. Now that the satellites are in low-Earth orbit, field testing can soon begin on the new service that will leverage SpaceX’s constellation of satellites with Direct to Cell technology and T-Mobile’s industry-leading wireless network. ...

With well over half a million square miles of the U.S. and vast stretches of ocean unreachable by terrestrial network coverage, due to terrain limitations, land-use restrictions and more, this new service aims to give customers a crucial additional layer of connectivity when and where they need it most. With the new service, the goal is to eliminate worrying about mobile dead zones and lugging around expensive satellite phones — Un-carrier customers would be connected nearly everywhere they can see the sky, and in most cases, with the phone they already have.

Today marks the first of many Starlink satellite launches to come that will include Direct to Cell capabilities. Initially, the service will begin with text messaging, with voice and data coverage to follow in the coming years. ...

(courtesy of ....... https://forum.lowyat.net/topic/5431474 - Semua Telefon Bakal Terima Isyarat Telco, Dari Satelit Dengan Teknologi Space X - Today, 04:08PM )
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This post has been edited by lurkingaround: Jan 9 2024, 08:08 PM

It's gonna be expensive.

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https://www.theverge.com/2022/8/25/23320722...obile-messaging - - T-Mobile and SpaceX Starlink say your 5G phone will connect to satellites next year - 26 Aug 2022
.... Sievert says that when it launches, T-Mobile’s “vision” is for it to be included for free in the carrier’s “most popular plans,” though he did say that today’s event isn’t an official announcement. He said T-Mobile wants to make it available to people with “low cost” plans for a “monthly service fee” lower than current satellite connectivity services. (That does potentially encompass a wide range of prices, though — Garmin’s InReach satellite messenger subscription plans, for example, start at $14.95 per month but go up to $64.95 a month.) ...
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https://www.reddit.com/r/Starlink/comments/...or_a/?rdt=61396 - How much will Starlink direct to cell cost for a basic plan add on for t mobile? any speculations? -
Keynooooo - 7 hours ago
When the texting service launches for T-Mobile do we know how much this would cost per monthy for a basic plan? Any speculation? Trying to see if it would be competitive with Garmin InReach for my camping/hiking purposes where I would use it infrequently for emergency purposes.
.... MajesticAlbatross864 - 2 hr. ago

Vodafone in NZ has said they are adding txting this year and calls next year at no extra cost.

Maybe an extra RM5 to RM10 for the "Satellite 4G/5G texting Pass".
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Elon rate won’t be cheap

Globalstar’s willingness to allocate 85% of its satellite network to Apple
Google, AT&T, and Vodafone with AST SpaceMobile
huawei with China's Beidou system
Starlink T-Mobile
Qualcomm scraps Android satellite communications deal with Iridium ...

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Those are likely different, eg, .......

https://www.digitaltrends.com/mobile/apple-...1668108457-2-2/ - iPhone 14 satellite connectivity: how it works, what it costs, and more - 13 Dec 2022
.... To be clear, Apple's satellite communications are entirely separate from 5G technologies. Although a rumor last year suggested that Apple was building satellite communications over 5G, similar to what SpaceX and T-Mobile are up to, that’s actually not the case. ...

Instead, Apple’s satellite network will use the same bands used by most other satellite communication services, specifically the L-band and S-band frequencies. Apple confirmed this in this week’s announcement, noting, “When an iPhone user makes an Emergency SOS via satellite request, the message is received by one of Globalstar’s 24 satellites in low-earth orbit traveling at speeds of approximately 16,000 mph. The satellite then sends the message down to custom ground stations located at key points all over the world.” ...
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Satellite communications are slower than traditional cellular calls and texts as the signal has to travel a much greater distance. Until recently, Apple hasn’t said too much about the satellite network it’s using; in September, an Apple spokesperson told Reuters that it had partnered with Globalstar to deploy the satellite infrastructure and investing a whopping $450 million to cover 95% of the costs involved in building and launching new satellites to power its futuristic emergency SOS network.

On November 10, Apple provided some more details in a newsroom announcement, confirming the investment from its Advanced Manufacturing Fund in Globalstar’s operations and adding that more than 300 Globalstar employees are involved in supporting the new satellite service. ...
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