Starlink Direct to Cell: Price, Beta Test, Availability

Starlink’s Direct to Cell project promises coverage for mobile phone users that eliminates dead spots and will be available by 2025. So far, Starlink has partnered with T-Mobile to provide service in the United States, promising expanded coverage for its customers. How much this ambitious service will cost is still up for debate. 

On November 16, 2024, T-Mobile invited customers to register for a nationwide beta test of the service for free. The beta test will begin in early 2025 for customers with compatible smartphones.

Starlink Direct to Cell is a program designed to expand cellular coverage for mobile customers of specific carriers. It’s not a standalone carrier but is meant to supplement the 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. Customers who want Starlink Direct to Cell don't need a particular phone because the technology works with modern phones.

As of early October, there have been no formal announcements of Starlink Direct to Cell price or plan structures. That means anything we (or anybody else on the internet) say about this is pure conjecture.

Our guess is that Direct to Cell will likely be an add-on option for T-Mobile plans and other partnered carriers, not a separate purchase from Starlink. We would expect pricing to be somewhere between $10.00 and $25.00 more per month—possibly more. However, Mike Sievert, CEO of T-Mobile, has alluded to the service being included in specific mobile plans—likely the higher-tiered plans like Go5G Next. 

That isn’t cheap, but it’s also not outrageous for 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.

Starlink Direct to Cell is still slowly being rolled out, and only to a few select T-Mobile customers. However, if you're interested in remote access to the internet from your phone and you're not a T-Mobile customer, Starlink itself is widely available now. 

Starlink's satellite internet coverage extends worldwide, so there are few places you won't be able to access it with the Standard kit widely available in the U.S. Starlink kits are $349, and Residential service is $120 per month. With this equipment, you can connect your phone to the internet through Wi-Fi, no matter how remote.

Additionally, as long as you have a reliable, mobile power source, you can take Starlink with you on your travels with its Roam plans. 

The initial launch and tests of the Direct to Cell technology occurred in January 2024, but Starlink is moving quickly to get it into the hands of consumers as soon as possible. Beta testing has already begun, with T-Mobile customers posting photos of their phones connected to satellite.

A true test of the service came in the wake of hurricane season in the U.S. southeast, with the FCC granting emergency approval for Starlink and T-Mobile to turn on the service for people in the regions hit by Hurricanes Helene and Milton.

As of November 25, 2024, Starlink announced it had launched 320 DTC satellites, enough to provide text services no matter where the customer is. Starlink can begin testing its service with T-Mobile customers as soon as the FCC grants full regulatory approval to operate over its desired radio spectrum.

According to SpaceX, T-Mobile customers don't need to take any action. Their phones will already be connected to Starlink satellites, and customers can send text messages even when their 5G service is down.

Beyond beta testing for a select few, the current timeline for availability looks like this:

• Texting: Early 2025
• Voice and data: Mid-2025
• Internet of Things (IoT) connectivity: 2025

These are the rough estimates for initial availability. The actual launch of features will depend on how well the beta test progresses and SpaceX's launches of additional satellites.

We’ll keep this page updated as these timelines become more concrete and new info becomes available.

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.

• Interested in Starlink Internet? Read our review.

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.

It remains to be seen if Starlink will ever spin off this functionality in its own mobile phone service outside of other carriers. This could be possible, but Starlink is currently committed to its partnerships with T-Mobile and international carriers. A Starlink phone could someday be a reality, but likely not for a long time.

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.

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.