TAMPA, Fla. — T-Mobile has opened beta registration for Starlink’s direct-to-smartphone satellite service, enabling text messaging early next year on select newer devices in most U.S. cellular dead zones with a clear sky view.
The free beta program is available to all T-Mobile customers with compatible devices and postpaid voice plans, the telco announced Dec. 16, although first responders will receive priority access due to limited initial capacity.
The company declined to detail capacity and device restrictions but said the beta program would gradually expand to more devices via software updates.
The satellites would use T-Mobile’s radio waves to connect devices across the 1.29 million square kilometers of land in the country not covered by cell towers.
Unlike Apple’s space-enabled messaging for iPhones, introduced in 2022 via Globalstar’s constellation, T-Mobile said Starlink-powered connectivity will not require users to point their phones skyward in search of a signal.
T-Mobile also has reciprocal Starlink roaming agreements with telcos KDDI (Japan), Optus (Australia), One NZ (New Zealand), Salt (Switzerland), Entel (Chile and Peru), and Rogers (Canada), but declined to say when the service could be extended outside the United States.
