In 2024, several countries will be able to benefit from Starlink’s mobile service. This initially enables the sending of SMS messages via satellite.
Elon Musk’s Starlink satellite internet service is on the verge of becoming a satellite phone service. “Starlink Direct to Cell” has been in the pipeline for several months and is scheduled to see the light of day in 2024. It will initially allow SMS messages to be sent over the company’s satellite network.
Our colleagues at Phonandroid have discovered that there is a new page on the Starlink website in the Business section promoting this new service.
“Starlink satellites with ‘Direct to Cell’ capabilities will enable ubiquitous access to text messages, calls and the Internet, whether you are on land, on a lake or in coastal waters,” Starlink announces on its dedicated page.
With its fleet of 4,000 satellites, Starlink promises that this service will work “anywhere you can see the sky,” even in “the most remote regions.”
Several countries are already affected
Tests were announced earlier this year for 2023. Starlink notably signed a partnership with T-Mobile, an American operator. On its website, the company says it has also signed partnerships with Japanese, Swiss, Australian, Canadian and New Zealand operators. The latter promote it on their website, like Optus, this Australian operator.
As a sort of appeal to other operators, there is a form at the bottom of the page that they can use to contact Starlink “to expand their network.” However, there is currently no news from French operators.
However, the service will not offer calls and internet connections until 2025. The price of the service has not yet been announced. In France, the cost of Starlink’s Internet connection service fell from 50 to 40 euros this year.
Starlink is owned by SpaceX, Elon Musk’s company. Although no numbers are being released, the company reported “well over” one million users around the world back in March.