For $15 a month, T-Mobile customers will soon be able to subscribe to use Elon Musk’s cellular Starlink service.
T-Mobile made the announcement after it was given regulatory approval to offer the service commercially. Last year, the option had been used for emergency texting and alerts in disaster zones.
Starlink has been a lifeline for people unable to access land-based communications services over the last few years, including helping Ukrainians stay online during Russia’s illegal invasion of the country. This is now, though, a step towards wider spread usage.
Beta Mode
For now, the service is in beta and users can sign up online to participate. However, starting in July, T-Mobile subscribers will be able to access the service on most plans for $15 a month. Those who got involved with the trial get the perk of a $10 per month subscription. Reports suggest that it will be included at no extra charge for users on the company’s Go5G Next plan.
“It’s a massive technical achievement and an absolute game changer for all wireless users. We’re still in the early days – I don’t want to overhype the experience during a beta test – but we’re officially putting ‘no bars’ on notice. Dead zones, your days are numbered at the Un-carrier.” – Mike Sievert, T-Mobile president and CEO
What Do T-Mobile Users Actually Get?
T-Mobile users will get access to Starlink’s fleet of satellites. In fact, as of January 30th, 2025, there are 6,994 Starlink satellites in orbit, of which 6,957 are working, according to Space.com and astronomer Jonathan McDowell
Subscribers can use these satellites to send and receive messages, make and receive calls, and they will also get some data access. This facility is especially useful in remote areas, like the more than 500,000 square miles of the US T-Mobile says is “unreached by any carrier’s earth-bound cell towers. It’s also handy if you are out at sea.
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The service will work for text messages “for now with picture messages, data and voice calls coming later,” adds T-Mobile.
Rival Carriers Included
T-Mobile has also announced that the service will be available to everyone, including AT&T and Verizon customers, in a move that the carrier admitted to PC Mag in the UK was forced by Verizon.
Clint Patterson, SVP of marketing for T-Mobile, said in an interview that the company wasn’t originally planning on offering its new service to customers with rival carriers but the Verizon Superbowl ad changed their mind.
The ad featured NASA astronaut Buzz Aldrin using a Verizon phone to “conquer dead zones” using satellite “to text from anywhere.”
The service is only open to these customers, though, if their existing phones support a digital SIM card.
