T-Mobile has started “wide-scale” testing of its satellite-to-cellular service by using SpaceX’s Starlink and its direct-to-cellular satellites. The telco says its aim is to eliminate ‘no-zones’ where conventional transmission towers simply do not exist.

T-Mobile says the beta-tests will be free for users until July. Thereafter subscribers with T-Mobile’s premium Go5G service can use the satellite system free of charge. Other non-premium subscribers will need to pay $15 per month once the service is formally launched this summer.

T-Mobile says that some 500,000 sq miles of the US are currently unserved by cellular signals.

T-Mobile used the February 9th Super Bowl to publicise its news (reportedly at a cost of $8 million for the commercial airtime), and customers who sign up for the beta satellite links – which will be text only initially – can get a 33 per cent discount when the service launches officially.

“This is something that nobody else in the US has done, and one of the big distinctive things this network has is that it works across almost all smartphones from the last four years,” Mike Katz, president of marketing, strategy and products, told Reuters.

The telco says that it will extend its Starlink accessibility to rival cellular operators including AT&T and Verizon when users are in dead zones without having to switch. AT&T and Verizon are partners with rival AST SpaceMobile’s system but AST is not expected to roll out major coverage until much later this year.

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Categories: Articles, Broadband, Satellite

Tags: starliink, T-Mobile, usa