T-Mobile Opens Its Starlink Beta, Including to People With AT&T and Verizon
Late last year, T-Mobile said it was ready Start Beta Test SpaceX’s Starlink Service. The plan appears to be ready for takeoff, and the airline is expected to announce during the Super Bowl that it has begun giving users access to satellite services.
As part of the Beta, people in the program are able to send text messages when outdoors, even in areas where ground coverage is not usually obtained from T-Mobile. The beta service will be free and open to all T-Mobile postpaid users until July, and the carrier will also be able to offer AT&T and Verizon customers for free during this period.
In July, operators plan to start charging fees for the service. It will be part of T-Mobile’s next plan for the most expensive GO5G and as an add-on to its other plans for $15 per line. T-Mobile users who sign up for the service this month will be able to lock in at a discount rate of $10 per row as part of the “early adopter” deal.
AT&T and Verizon users will be able to continue using the service for $20 per line. These users do not need to switch to T-Mobile to add Starlink service, but need an ESIMS-enabled unlock compatible device.
T-Mobile, AT&T and Verizon users are interested in registering for Beta T-Mobile’s websiteas the operator plans to add users to the new service first, provide a rolling foundation first. In the list, when a user who registers for Beta is able to join, it will be linked to the description.
The airline has no plans to provide satellite coverage to AT&T and Verizon users, but says it is seeing satellite coverage for Verizon Latest ads containing networks where astronaut Buzz Aldrin touts satellite text messages. The ad has already received over 8 million views on YouTube.
Clint Patterson, senior vice president of marketing at T-Mobile, told CNET that in supporting competitors, airlines “frankly, this is not part of our initial plan for the Super Bowl.”
“When we see the latest ads from Verizon, promoting things you can’t do on Verizon’s network, we feel we need to take action.”
T-Mobile said there are currently more than 450 satellites in orbit, and “the land network cannot access 500,000 square miles of terrain.”
Patterson said T-Mobile has added “thousands of” users to the beta.
The carrier notes that it has been working with SpaceX and device manufacturers to optimize smartphones to be able to connect to new services, with the goal of staying connected as long as you can see the sky.
T-Mobile said it has been working with manufacturers to “ensure that the vast majority of T-Mobile phones released in the past four years will be used with the T-Mobile Starlink,” including the iPhone 14 and the Galaxy S21.
Coverage in emergency situations
T-Mobile and SpaceX First announced their partnership in 2022 And recently used the technology to keep people informed and connected during natural disasters. The two companies used to respond Hurricane Milton and Helen Last year, it was launched this month People who deal with the Los Angeles fire.
Mike Katz, president of Marketing, Strategy and Products at T-Mobile, said that in an emergency, the company can provide services to everyone regardless of the plan. “In an emergency, you have to put down the competitive guards and realize that there are things that are more important… and people affected by these tragedies need help,” he said. “So that will always be our guiding principle for these things. .”
As part of its deployment in response to the Los Angeles fire, the carrier has turned on Starlink support only to users of most Android phones and older iPhone models before the iPhone 14 series. Those with iPhone 14 or newer phones are forced to use Apple’s satellite service, iPhone Maker provides Globalstar.
With Beta and Full Launch, T-Mobile will support more focus devices for Android and iOS. The carrier does not provide a list of compatible devices, but Katz noted that the phone available for Beta “will be the least qualified device, and literally, just like every week, it will expand.”
“At some point, all newer devices will be included,” Katz said, adding that the carrier will notify customers when their phones are beta-compatible.
T-Mobile says it can also use Starlink constellation to broadcast wireless emergency alerts from government and local officials to anyone, whether they have T-Mobile or other providers, as part of the opening of this new beta service. .
Starting with texting, data will appear this year
While T-Mobile and SpaceX’s original Starlink service will focus on texting, the program is to power voice and data, which can help carriers’ products stand out from the point of what the equipment manufacturers are bundled with.
Patterson said that while the operator started texting with SMS in Beta, it plans to provide satellite data services “later this year” and will provide future voice services such as calls.
Apple’s satellite solution allows messages to be sent to emergency services and send messages to Conventional messages for satellites. Google recently partnered with Skylo to launch emergency satellite messaging options For its Pixel 9 Series Phone;This is only for emergency messages.
Apple and Google are not currently charging fees for their satellite messaging services, although they both imply that they may add fees to the feature going offline.
Katz said that as T-Mobile operates through Beta and is heading for a commercial launch, the phone will know how to deal with conflicts between different satellite services, with the first option being the operator’s services rather than the manufacturer conflict. “These phones are all about searching the carrier network first and then going to another phone,” he said. “This is an extension of the carrier network.”
Watch the following: Apple vs. Google: Satellite Emergency
