Starlink V2 Will Transmit to Mobile Phones And Tesla Vehicles With Premium Connectivity in 2023

Today, SpaceX and T-Mobile announced a huge partnership that they would be partnering to release 'Coverage Above & Beyond,' an add-on included with higher-end subscriptions that allows mobile phones to receive data in regions outside normal cell phone range. This service will be available in 2023 to most smartphones already existing on the market.

Elon Musk followed up with a tweet stating that it will be best used for texting and calling, but not for high bandwidth data usage as it provides 2-4 Mbps of data per service zone. According to Elon, this technology will "eliminate dead zones worldwide" for mobile phones.

https://twitter.com/x/status/1562963693490475010

https://twitter.com/x/status/1562956451538014209

TMC user @Cosmacelf believes that this satellite-to-cellphone technology might have come from SpaceX's acquisition of Swarm, a low cost, global satellite connectivity company that allows cell phones to communicate with one another.

This direct to cell phone technology might have come from SpaceX's acquisition of Swarm. They may yet offer an IoT service, but I am guessing the technology to allow direct to cell phone is similar to what Swarm had.

"T-Mobile will have to work with messaging app providers to ensure compatibility", says Cosmacelf. "So, the regular phone SMS text feature should work out of the box, but iMessaging and WhatsApp and even RCS will need to be tweaked somewhat to ensure bandwidth compatibility."

ASTS, another satellite data service that is supposed to directly compete with T-Mobile's 'Coverage Above & Beyond' service is also about to launch their first satellite, of which they are using SpaceX to launch.

In theory, the ASTS service will be higher bandwidth, more capable, and thus probably more expensive. AT&T Mobile has signed an LOI with ASTS. Interesting times!

Credit: T-Mobile

Elon announced on Twitter that this worldwide coverage feature will be coming to Tesla vehicles with the Premium Connectivity subscription! In my opinion, this is a fantastic way to incorporate SpaceX technology into Tesla vehicles. It is currently unknown whether the Premium Connectivity subscription will increase in price as a result.

https://twitter.com/x/status/1562981667480150018

 

[Julia Connor]

Very promising

 

[airborne spoon]

Why would they partner with a *sugar* company like T maybe? I mean it makes sense because there is so many dead spots with T maybe, but still it seems like a crap idea they should've partnered with AT&T to take a company with great coverage and make it better.

 

[EVCollies]

Why would they partner with a *sugar* company like T maybe? I mean it makes sense because there is so many dead spots with T maybe, but still it seems like a crap idea they should've partnered with AT&T to take a company with great coverage and make it better.

My first thought as well, but all the other mobile phone companies have so many other interests making T-mobile the only company with significant gains with this alliance.

 

[natuk]

I wonder how much this will cost in the UK

 

[Cosmacelf]

Why would they partner with a *sugar* company like T maybe? I mean it makes sense because there is so many dead spots with T maybe, but still it seems like a crap idea they should've partnered with AT&T to take a company with great coverage and make it better.

My guess is that the SpaceX offering is a lower tier offering than the other two direct to satellite cellular companies. Bandwidth that SpaceX is offering is a lot lower. Meaning, Verizon and AT&T and going to want to partner with the others, even if it costs more. TMobile was happy to get a mostly texting service at a cheaper price.