Nuked T-Mobile says it’s getting rid of mobile dead zones thanks to new partnership with SpaceX’s starlink satellite Internet. With their’coverage above and beyond’, mobile phones could connect to satellites and use a slice of a connection providing around 2 to 4 megabits per second.
The’satellite-to-cellular service’ will be available’everywhere in the continental us, Hawaii, parts of Alaska, Puerto Rico and territorial waters’.
New satellites will be able to broadcast service using part of T-Mobile’s mid-band PCs spectrum. The new satellites have’big, big antennas’ that are 5 to 6 meters across to enable the new connections.
Connectivity will be 2 to 4 Mbits per cell zone, so will work great for texting & voice calls, but not high frequency.
Operators of messaging apps will need to work with T-Mobile and starlink for their services to recognize the satellite connection and work with it once it launches.’if there are n’t too many people in the cell zone, you may potentially even have a little bit of video,’ said Sievert.
It could work without access to starlink’s full satellite constellation. It could use a more intermittent connection for’basic’ coverage. You might have to wait 30 minutes for a message to go through.
T-Mobile customers could also use connections when they come to other countries. The two execs said they’re seeking partnerships with mobile carriers who would be interested in reciprocal spectrum sharing agreements so that their customers can link up with SpaceX.
Tesla is currently using at & T’s network for live traffic visualization, satellite-view maps, and music streaming. Musk also said on Twitter that Tesla will use the technology for the premium connectivity feature in its electric vehicles.
T-Mobile wants to make it available to people with’low cost’ plans for a’monthly service fee’ lower than current satellite connectivity services. Today’s event is n’t an official announcement.
T-Mobile says that subscribers’ current phones will be able to use the network – no special equipment required. As Elon Musk said in the announcement:’the phone you currently have will work’.
T-Mobile does n’t own the rights to that spectrum worldwide. Spacex’s satellites could technically communicate with phones internationally. But T-Mobile may not have rights to the same bands its system uses when you take your phone to another country or into international waters.
T-Mobile has been rumored to be working on a new version of T-Mobile’s system. T-Mobile’s plans to offer more coverage for T-Mobile.
Analyst Walter Piecyk says Apple and Samsung might have an easier time combining satellite connectivity into their upcoming phones. He says starlink will face in trying to cobble together spectrum rights with wireless operators around the globe.
T-Mobile and Verizon have lobbied the Federal Communications Commission to stop a company called ast & science from launching satellites that could provide mobile phone service from space. Spacex is embroiled in a battle with Dish networks over the 12ghz spectrum, which the latter wants to use for terrestrial 5G.
The two companies are pitching now that each cell will support around 2-4 megabits. Such a plan would be similar to what Verizon announced in collaboration with Amazon’s Kuiper satellite Internet project.
This year, SpaceX lost a bid for rural Internet subsidies because of the cost of its equipment. But if it can piggyback off T-Mobile’s existing equipment, which people in rural areas may already own, that could help its case with the Federal Communications Commission.
