It is now obvious that the announcement met those expectations as T-Mobile and Starlink unveiled Coverage Above & Beyond, a direct Starlink connection to current phones that will deliver cellular coverage anywhere in the world, regardless of how near you are to any cell tower. According to a press release from T-Mobile, the “satellite-to-cellular service” will be available “everywhere in the continental US, Hawaii, parts of Alaska, Puerto Rico, and territorial waters.”
— SpaceX (@SpaceX) August 26, 2022 T-Mobile’s most recent step is to integrate its current mid-band PCS spectrum with the Starlink V2 satellites that might launch as early as next year in an effort to completely remove mobile dead zones. As a result, phones won’t need to be modified in any way in order to connect directly to satellites. This will enable the transmission of MMS and SMS text messages, as well as voice and tiny quantities of data, over the whole world. Additionally, T-Mobile stated that it will offer this service as part of its basic plans at no added or higher cost. There will only be two to four megabits of bandwidth per cellular zone, making the speeds and connectivity far more constrained than those of full-size terminals or typical 4G or 5G connectivity. Even if it’s quite lower, this collaboration will nevertheless offer vital connectivity when necessary. It won’t be operational for some time; the earliest connectivity is anticipated for late 2023. While this collaboration is between SpaceX and T-Mobile, the two companies also discussed future plans for “reciprocal roaming,” whereby other carriers will share portions of their spectrum for use on Starlink satellites in order to provide mobile satellite connectivity to as many people as possible in as many places as possible.
