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4 min readStarlink’s Direct to Cell project continues to progress toward the launch of its ambitious service that promises coverage for mobile phone users where their carrier’s signal is too weak or non-existent.
According to SpaceX, over 20 percent of the U.S. has no cell coverage, with 90 percent of the world uncovered. With the benefit of never encountering another dead zone, customers could get this service before the end of 2024.
Starlink Direct to Cell is a program designed to expand cellular coverage for customers of specific carriers. It’s not a standalone carrier but is meant to supplement the carrier networks it partners with. In the U.S., that carrier will be T-Mobile, at least for the first year of operation, as announced by SpaceX founder Elon Musk on X. They are working with other carriers in more countries and will expand to other U.S. carriers in the future.
Starlink has already successfully tested the technology by sending text messages and videos. Throughout the past year, SpaceX has been building out its mega-constellation of satellites with ones that are specifically designed to support the program.
Speeds will be limited at first, with initial tests resulting in download speeds of 17Mbps, and only in areas with no current cellular network. The system is also engineered to work with nearly every modern phone, with no specialized modes or modifications required.
To our knowledge, there has been zero public discussion of prices or plan structures for Direct to Cell. That means anything we (or anybody else on the internet) says about this is pure conjecture.
Our guess is that Direct to Cell is likely to be an add-on option for plans with the carrier partners, purchased through the carrier itself, rather than Starlink. We would expect pricing to be somewhere between $10.00 and $25.00 per month—possibly more.
That isn’t cheap, but it’s also not outrageous for the types of users who may be interested in this service, such as serious backpackers, mountaineers, first responders, and others who spend a lot of time outside of cell range. From Elon Musk’s speech at the T-Mobile announcement, it seems these are the primary audiences.
Of course, this is all just guessing—we could be totally wrong. We’ll update this section as new information becomes available.
Starlink Direct to Cell is for users such as serious backpackers, mountaineers, first responders, and others who spend a lot of time outside of cell range. It could be a vital lifeline in emergencies such as lost or injured hikers calling 911.
Direct to Cell will be rolled out in stages. Initially, only texting will be available. Users can send and receive text messages anywhere outside the signal of T-Mobile’s network.
The service plans to add voice and data capabilities in 2025. There is less information about this stage, but the idea is that users won’t need to activate it—their phones will just work as usual, recognizing Starlink satellites like cell towers. However, the performance might not be quite as good as that of LTE in areas covered by traditional cell towers.
Another exciting aspect of Direct to Cell’s feature set is the ability to connect with Internet of Things (IoT) devices. Starlink highlights business use cases such as connecting devices and machines for agriculture, transportation, and maritime use where no terrestrial signal is available.
The initial launch and tests of the Direct to Cell technology occurred in January 2024, but Starlink is moving fast at getting it in the hands of consumers ASAP.
The current timeline for availability looks like this:
The full features could take longer to roll out—these are just the rough estimates for initial availability.
As of September 2024, 170 Starlink DTC satellites have launched, and more are on the way to improve coverage. The Starlink DTC satellites differ from Starlink’s typical internet satellites that power its internet service.
We’ll keep this page updated as these timelines become more concrete and new info becomes available.
Starlink Direct to Cell will work with any mobile phone with LTE connectivity, regardless of manufacturer or brand—no need to get a new or expensive satellite phone.
In 2024, that represents the vast majority of devices in use, at least in places like the U.S. LTE has been widespread in phones since about 2012 when the iPhone 5 was released. It’s also worth noting that all 5G phones also support 4G LTE as standard. Whether you’re on an iPhone or Samsung, it will be available as long as you have the right carrier.
T-Mobile will exclusively have Direct to Cell features for one year after partnering with Starlink. So, while the service will likely work with most phones, you’ll need to be a T-Mobile customer. It’s unknown if MVNO carriers like Mint Mobile, which uses T-Mobile’s network, will have access to Direct to Cell.
Starlink also has a growing list of international partner carriers such as Rogers in Canada, KDDI in Japan, Optus in Australia, and many more.
After T-Mobile’s exclusivity window, Starlink could partner with other U.S. carriers like Verizon or AT&T, but it’s unknown if that’s likely to happen due to those carrier’s partnership with rival satellite company AST SpaceMobile.
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