Together with T-Mobile, SpaceX wants to put an end to dead spots via its satellite internet. Plans have now been presented for Starlink to connect to smartphones. Calls and messengers should be possible anywhere in the world.
Elon Musk wants to make Starlink available on regular phones
SpaceX CEO Elon Musk and US T-Mobile CEO Mike Sievert have declared the fight against dead spots. At a jointly held event, plans were presented for satellite internet to be expanded from Starlink will also be available on normal smartphones in the future should let use. So far, Starlink is only available stationary.
However, it will still be some time before satellite Internet really arrives on mobile phones. The SpaceX satellites currently in orbit are not able to enable mobile phone connections. First the second generation of small satellites is intended to make dead spots disappear – provided there is a clear view of the sky.
Musk has already explained in part how quickly the mobile Internet from space will fail. The future satellites could 2 to 4 megabits per second per cell zone, which should be enough for voice calls and messages. If there are few participants in a cell zone, according to Musk, videos could even be played.
The two CEOs emphasized in the announcement that users no additional equipment must purchase in order to use the proposed T-Mobile service. A current mobile phone would be sufficient (source: SpaceX on YouTube).
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Mobile Starlink free for some T-Mobile customers
In T-Mobile USA’s “Most Popular Contracts,” Starlink mobile Internet without additional costs ready. What it looks like for other customers has not yet been revealed. SpaceX and T-Mobile could launch the offer as early as 2023.