
No towers? No problem. T-Satellite, powered by Elon Musk’s Starlink, goes live on July 23 to reach places where coverage has been forgotten.
T-Mobile will officially launch its T-Satellite service on July 23, marking a significant shift in how mobile carriers deliver connectivity to remote areas that were previously unreachable by terrestrial towers. Built in partnership with SpaceX’s Starlink satellite network, the new system will allow users to send and receive messages from more than 500,000 square miles of U.S. territory that previously had little or no wireless coverage.
The service is not limited to T-Mobile customers. Verizon and AT&T users with compatible phones will also be able to subscribe for $10 per month, while T-Mobile includes the service at no additional cost in its “Experience Beyond” plan. The satellite connection does not require any extra hardware or specialized phones; most smartphones released since 2020 will automatically connect to the network when out of terrestrial range.
How it works
T-Satellite relies on 657 Starlink direct-to-cell satellites currently in orbit, with more expected to be launched in the future. The satellites communicate directly with standard LTE radios in smartphones using mid-band spectrum held by T-Mobile. The system is based on 3GPP Release 17 standards, supporting narrowband communications like SMS and MMS in low-bandwidth environments.
The network is expected to behave like a cell tower from space, using beamforming and time-division multiple access (TDMA) to manage concurrent users. Because satellites pass overhead only periodically, T-Mobile users in remote areas will not have continuous coverage. Still, they can expect to send and receive messages as satellites pass within range, similar to how satellite phones operate, but on consumer-grade devices.
Functionality at launch
At launch, text messaging (SMS) will be available for both Android and iOS users. Android users will also be able to send picture messages (MMS) and short audio clips, with iOS compatibility for those features expected to follow later this year.
Data capabilities will be added beginning October 1, starting with a limited set of applications optimized for the constraints of low-Earth-orbit satellite bandwidth. Among the early participants are AccuWeather, AllTrails, Apple, Google, WhatsApp, and X (formerly Twitter).
Emergency services and broader access
T-Satellite will also support 911 text messaging, giving users in remote areas access to emergency services even when no cellular signal is available. Later this year, T-Mobile plans to open that capability to all users with compatible phones, regardless of their carrier or whether they subscribe to the T-Satellite service.
Beta Program that scaled quickly
The service builds on a beta program launched in January, which included nearly 1.8 million users, many of them from outside T-Mobile’s customer base. According to the company, users have sent over a million messages from remote regions, including national parks, oil fields, and rural farmland, with three times as many messages received, highlighting that incoming connectivity is just as critical as outbound.
T-Mobile’s T-Satellite service reflects growing interest across the telecom sector in direct-to-device satellite communications. AT&T and AST SpaceMobile are developing a similar capability, as is Verizon through a partnership with Amazon’s Project Kuiper. But T-Mobile appears to be the first to bring commercial availability to U.S. consumers on a broad scale.
With a low entry cost and wide compatibility, T-Satellite could serve as a proof of concept for integrating satellite networks into everyday wireless coverage, especially as rural broadband access and emergency preparedness remain national priorities.