Shortly after the announcement, Ben Longmeir, Senior Director of Satellite Engineering at SpaceX, wrote on X that Starlink will soon begin beta testing with employees. On November 16, T-Mobile opened registration for a nationwide beta test to all customers.
The approval is the latest step toward fulfilling Starlink’s mission of delivering text, voice, and data to mobile users anywhere, eliminating the need for terrestrial infrastructure like cell towers. The green light from the FCC comes just in time for Starlink to fulfill its timetable for rolling out Direct to Cell by making text capabilities available by the end of 2024.
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
It has exclusively partnered with T-Mobile in the U.S. for the first year and several other international providers. Still, it invites all providers to sign up with Direct to Cell. The service has already successfully tested its capabilities when the FCC gave it emergency authorization to go online for customers in the areas affected by Hurricanes Helene and Milton. T-Mobile claimed that several thousands of customers could send texts to loved ones and emergency services.
Furthermore, the FCC has also cleared Starlink to operate its second-generation satellites in an even closer Earth orbit. Previously, Starlink satellites operated around 500km above the Earth, but the FCC has lowered this limit to below 400km. The lower orbit, up to 340km, means the satellite internet provider's latency will be even lower, which is already below 30ms depending on location. Lower latency means more responsive internet, and Starlink is already the leader among satellite internet providers in terms of latency.
The approval was conditional on SpaceX working closely with NASA to coordinate satellite launches with missions to the International Space Station since the science vessel orbits in the same range.
While this clears the way for some of Starlink’s ambitious plans, it still needs to clear more barriers before it can deliver on the full potential of its satellite network and Direct to Cell. The FCC has yet to approve SpaceX’s request to launch beyond the 7,500 approved next-gen satellites. Starlink wants to launch more than 30,000 satellites to meet its global coverage goals and bandwidth demand for its customers. It also declined to authorize Starlink’s request to operate the satellites at higher radio emissions, which it claims it needs to enable voice and data transmission over Direct to Cell.
The latest approvals come despite objections from competing companies, including AT&T, Verizon, and EchoStar (owner of Dish Network and Hughesnet), with claims that granting Starlink these approvals for Direct to Cell would cause interference with their networks. However, the FCC has sided with SpaceX on at least two requests while deferring the other two requests until later, likely when more data becomes available to help inform a decision. AT&T and Verizon have partnered with satellite start-up company AST SpaceMobile to deliver a competing direct-to-cellular service that aims to go online within the next two years.
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