The launch of Starlink’s long-awaited Direct-to-Cell satellite mobile phone service will reportedly begin rolling out for SMS in 2024. The company’s newly launched promotional site. Ultimately, the system will “enable ubiquitous access to send text messages, make calls, and browse anywhere on land, lakes, or coastal waters” and connect to IoT devices through the LTE standard.
Starlink partnered with T-Mobile on this project. Announced in August last year At the “Coverage and Above and Beyond” event. The partnership will see T-Mobile set aside some of its 5G spectrum for use with its Starlink second-generation satellites. Starlink will allow T-Mobile’s phones to access the satellite network and provide it to mobile phone service providers. ”almost completely covered“American.
During an event last August, SpaceX’s CEO Elon Musk tweeted “Starlink V2” is scheduled to be released on some mobile phones this year, like a tesla car. “The important thing about this is that for mobile phones, there is no dead zone anywhere in the world,” Musk said. stated in a press statement at that time. “We’re very excited to be able to make this happen with T-Mobile.” This estimate was revised during a panel discussion in March. Satellite Conference & Exhibition 2023as estimated by Jonathan Hofeller, SpaceX’s vice president of Starlink enterprise sales. Testing, not commercial operation, is expected to begin in 2023.
The existing constellation of 4,265 satellites is not compatible with the new cellular service, so Starlink will need to launch an entirely new series of microsatellites over the next few years carrying the necessary eNodeB modems. Additional voice and data capabilities will become available as more satellites are launched.
Direct-to-Cell, a messaging-only satellite service, will soon face competition from Apple. Emergency SOS by satellite Similar to iOS 14 features, Qualcomm rival Snapdragon Satellite, which uses the Iridium constellation to deliver texts from orbit to Android phones. Lynk Global CEO Charles Miller argued that competition is expected to increase in this emerging market, with satellite cell phone services potentially becoming the “biggest category of satellite.”
