T-Mobile and SpaceX Starlink Announce that Your 5G Smartphone Will Be Able to Connect to Satellites Next Spring

Musk also stated on Twitter, that Tesla, one of his companies, will use the technology to enable the premium connectivity feature for its electric cars. Tesla currently uses AT&T’s network to provide live traffic visualization, satellite view maps, and music streaming.

Sievert states that T-Mobile’s vision is that the product will be free with its “most popular plans.” However, he said that today’s announcement is not an official one. T-Mobile plans to offer it to customers with low-cost plans at a lower monthly fee than the current satellite connectivity services. This could cover a wide price range, however. Garmin’s InReach satellite messenger subscription plans start at $14.95 per month and go up to $64.95 per month.

T-Mobile claims that subscribers’ existing phones will work with the network, and no additional equipment is required. Elon Musk stated in the announcement that “the phone you have now will work.”

It’s a bit of an irony that T-Mobile uses the traditional cell spectrum. Although it is an advantage that doesn’t require special equipment, T-Mobile does not own spectrum rights worldwide. While SpaceX satellites can technically communicate with phones worldwide, T-Mobile might not have the rights to the same frequencies its system uses to take your phone to another country.

This is not true for satellite communications networks like Garmin’s Iridium system. 

If handset manufacturers want to create their own version, which Apple has been rumored working on, they could partner with other satellite providers to get more coverage than T-Mobile is planning.

Walter Piecyk is an analyst at LightShed Partners and says to The Verge that Apple and Samsung may have a simpler time integrating satellite connectivity into their new phones than Starlink in trying to get spectrum rights with wireless operators across the globe.

The fight over spectrum rights can get messy, as they have. T-Mobile and Verizon lobbied the Federal Communications Commission in order to prevent AST & Science, a company that could launch satellites capable of providing mobile phone service from space from being allowed to do so. They claimed that their system could interfere with Verizon’s land-based networks. SpaceX is in a conflict with Dish Networks regarding the 12Ghz spectrum which Dish wants to use for terrestrial 5.G. Musk’s company warned its customers that Dish could use 12Ghz to disable its satellite internet service. Analysts even question whether additional approvals will be required by the FCC for the service today.

Sievert said that T-Mobile is open to the possibility of SpaceX being used for its network backhaul, particularly in rural areas. Although it’s not as advanced as what the companies have been presenting, Musk claims that each cell can support approximately 2-4 megabits. However, it could make it more affordable for T-Mobile to expand its network. This plan would be similar to what Verizon announced in partnership with Amazon’s Kuiper Satellite Internet Project. However, that plan seems far away from becoming a reality, since Amazon hasn’t launched any satellites.

SpaceX was unable to win a bid for rural internet subsidies earlier this year due to the high cost of its equipment. It could be able to piggyback on existing equipment from T-Mobile, which rural residents may already have, and that could help it with the Federal Communications Commission. The Thursday presentation focused on rural coverage with videos from people living in remote areas or herding animals.