T-Mobile and SpaceX have joined together to provide 5G service by transmitting signals to phones from orbit
Starbase near Boca China, Texas was the site of an announcement event hosted by T-Mobile and SpaceX. During this unexpected event, the firms revealed plans to use SpaceX’s Starlink satellites to offer backup service in areas with no terrestrial cellular coverage, thereby eliminating dead zones. places like the ocean or the middle of nowhere in the United States.
A video presentation about people who live, work, and play in the United States’ most isolated regions served as the livestream’s opening act. For these persons, the inability to contact emergency services due to a lack of cell service could be fatal.
T-Mobile’s CEO, Mike Sievert, explains: “It is about fixing the biggest pain issue in the over-40-year history of our industry.” For “this alliance,” the elimination of “mobile dead zones” is a shared goal. The head honcho says that there are more than 500,000 square miles of undeveloped land in the United States. The streaming presentation also suggests a future in which individuals never have to worry about losing connection, even in the event of an emergency.
Sievert argues that if you have a clean view of the sky and a T-Mobile smartphone, you will always be connected to the network. T-Mobile will set aside a portion of its mid-band PCS spectrum in preparation for Starlink’s 2019 satellite deployment. The signal strength on a smartphone will not change whether it is in a pocket or a moving vehicle.
In order to offer a connection despite differences in orbit speed, SpaceX will soon begin deploying Starlink satellites of the second generation equipped with phased array antennas. Elon Musk said on stage, “I hope the audience gets the gravity of the announcement.”
Through the use of satellites, we can simulate a “cell” on Earth that can support data rates of up to 2 Mbps. Musk claims this is adequate for receiving and processing hundreds of thousands of text messages or 1,000-2,000 simultaneous voice calls. Sending and receiving text messages is the service’s first focus, with voice and data capability coming later. Musk made it clear on stage that the satellites are not meant to replace cell towers, but rather to provide a redundant network that could fill in the blank zones and potentially provide a temporary network in the event of a natural disaster.
If your current smartphone is able to connect to T-Mobile’s mid-band PCS spectrum, you will be able to use it to receive a signal (band n41 on 2.5GHz). There won’t be any extra hardware required for a satellite to communicate with a smartphone.
Soon after 2023, the service will be made available for beta testing, with a full rollout to the public likely occurring in 2024. It to the Starlink connection will be included at no additional cost for users on T-“most Mobile’s popular” plans (likely T-Magenta Mobile’s MAX), while access can be purchased separately for consumers on lesser plans.
At the event, Elon Musk invited all of the major wireless companies in the world to join them. We’d be happy to work with you as a partner to roll this out internationally if you’d want to get in touch. Through a virtual cellular antenna in orbit, participating carriers might reach an agreement to offer roaming services to each other’s customers in the United States and to T-Mobile customers in other countries.
