The so-called Super Bowl of American football in the United States was used by many companies to make important announcements, and the telecom operator T-Mobile was no exception. It announced the launch of a large-scale beta test of a text messaging service via the Starlink satellite network using compatible smartphones. At the same time, the prices at which this service will be provided on a commercial basis from July were announced.
Image source: Starlink
What’s interesting, as Bloomberg notes, is that even customers of competing operators Verizon and AT&T will be able to access the Starlink network, but their smartphones must support text messaging via the satellite network and the ability to use e-SIM. During the beta testing phase, the service will be provided free of charge, but starting in July, T-Mobile will begin charging a subscription fee.
It will cost $15 a month for first-time customers starting in July, $10 a month for beta testers, and $20 a month for customers on competing carriers. However, users of T-Mobile’s most expensive plan will get access to text messaging via satellite for free.
At first, the service will indeed only allow text messaging in areas where land-based cellular service does not work. In the future, T-Mobile customers will be able to use voice communications, send pictures, and access web resources. T-Mobile and Starlink have been testing this service since last year, but the companies only recently received permission to commercially use the service.
Starlink support for direct text messaging is available on the latest Samsung and Apple smartphones, with the latter also having a long-standing partnership with satellite operator Globalstar. Verizon recently received permission to test satellite communications using AST SpaceMobile’s infrastructure.