Starlink will allow SMS sending in 2024 and calls and data use in 2025
Elon Musk's service will allow the sending of text messages in 2024, and a new level of communication by the following year
Starlink’s satellite service for mobile phones, Direct to Cell, will begin rolling out in 2024 for sending text messages (SMS) and in 2025 for making voice calls, using Internet data and connecting IoT devices with common LTE standards.
Starlink is a division of SpaceX, owned by Elon Musk, designed to create an interconnected network of orbital satellites with which it hopes to provide the internet to all areas of the world and that even those with less coverage can connect to the network.
With the Direct to Cell service the company plans to offer mobile connectivity, with “seamless access to text messages, voice and data for LTE phones worldwide” without having to change the ‘hardware’ or ‘firmware’ of these devices, as specified on their website.
In this, the company has established the scheduled deadlines for the launch of its mobile coverage service, which will begin in 2024 with the possibility of sending text messages. A year later, in 2025, it will add support for voice calls, data, and IoT devices.
SpaceX has also commented that Direct to Cell capable satellites feature an eNodeB modem that acts as a cell tower in space, “enabling network integration similar to that of a standard roaming partner.”
Thus, it has been announced that Direct to Cell will reach the telephone providers T-Mobile, Rodgers, both in the United States, KDDI (Japan), Opto (Australia), One NZ (New Zealand) and Sal (Switzerland).
The technology firm has also indicated that it is taking advantage of its experience in manufacturing and launching the “most advanced rockets and spacecraft in the world” to carry out this satellite connectivity project at scale.
The Direct to Cell satellites will initially launch on SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket and then on Starship. Once in orbit, they will immediately connect to the Starlink constellation to provide global connectivity.
Source: dpa
(Referential image source: Starlink, dpa)
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