T-Mobile US satellite service with Starlink goes nationwide

T-Mobile US’ direct-to-device (D2D) satellite service provisioned by Starlink birds made its nationwide debut after six months of beta testing.

The T-Satellite service, which currently supports text messaging and location sharing, is also available to AT&T and Verizon customers with unlocked phones and eSIM cards.

The service is available free for subscribers of T-Mobile’s Experience Beyond or Go5G Next plans. For those without premium plans, it is being offered for $10 per month for a limited time before increasing to $15 per month. AT&T and Verizon customers can access connectivity for $10 a month.

“The key question is how many people will actually pay,” Tim Farrar, an analyst at TMF Associates, told Mobile World Live. “Most users will presumably get it for free.”

On its Q2 earnings call, T-Mobile CEO Mike Seivert stated “people have been choosing our higher end rate plans anticipating this launch”.

“This is speculation at this point, but I think it’s going to be really a popular catalyst to bring people into that deeper relationship with T-Mobile,” he said of T-Satellite.

Starlink’s more than 650 birds cover the continental US, Hawaii, parts of southern Alaska and Puerto Rico. The mobile operator is working on offering satellite connectivity abroad and in international waters.

T-Mobile’s support page states the service currently can send picture on “most” Android phones. T-Satellite works on more than 60 phones, including iPhone 13 and up, Google Pixel 9 as well as Samsung Galaxy 21 and newer devices.

Jon Freier, president of T-Mobile’s Consumer Group, stated in a blog nearly two million people tried T-Satellite during the beta, with up to 30,000 daily users.

During the recent floods in the US state of Texas, Freier said 93,700 people connected to T-Satellite, sending 287,000 SMS messages. It also delivered 125 wireless emergency alerts.

Keen competition
Verizon launched its free satellite messaging service with Skylo Technologies earlier this year, but it only works with newer devices such as the Samsung Galaxy S25 and Google Pixel 9.

Verizon also has a deal in place with AST SpaceMobile, but the satellite operator currently has just five birds deployed with more launches scheduled for this year.

Rival AT&T also is working with AST SpaceMobile. It is seeking permission from the Federal Communications Commission to commercially deploy the D2D service on FirstNet for first responders.