T-Mobile US Inc. has entered into a partnership with Elon Musk-led SpaceX in order to provide cellular phone coverage to more remote areas of the United States where coverage is scarce.
Musk and Mike Sievert, Chief Executive Officer of T-Mobile, made the announcement of the cooperation during an event that took place on Thursday evening in Boca Chica, Texas. According to Sievert, the service will begin rolling out in phases next year, and it will function for free with users’ existing phones when it is included in the most popular plans offered by the company. Users who have lesser-priced plans may require to pay an added charge.
Musk stated that the service, which would use SpaceX’s Starlink satellites, is capable of easily handling texts, photos, and maybe even small-size video files. However, he cautioned that transmissions could take as much as half an hour in the initial phases of the rollout. The addition of voice call or message capabilities is still in the works.
According to him, SpaceX is now developing highly specialized terminals that will be mounted to the company’s second-generation internet satellites in a bid to make it possible for T-Mobile users to get online. The Starship rocket that SpaceX is now in the process of developing will be used to launch the V2 satellites.
Musk has made a bold claim that the wireless satellite service will continue to function effectively even when storms and other natural calamities render regular mobile phone towers inoperable. Elon anticipates that it would, in the end, help save the lives of those who were wounded or trapped in far-flung corners of the globe.
The entrepreneur continued by stating that SpaceX is presenting an “open invitation” to other cellphone service providers who may show an interest in collaborating with SpaceX plus T-mobile project-. It’s possible that the service may eventually become available in space.
He remarked, “We’d love T-Mobile on Mars.”
Musk afterward tweeted that the wireless facility will be extended to Tesla cars as well, so that the drivers would be able to send and receive SMS and calls in case of an emergency.
In the beginning, SpaceX’s Starlink subsidiary intended to make money by offering broadband internet connection to private residences, in particular in more remote portions of the country that were not covered by landline carriers. About 2,800 of the company’s satellites have been placed into low-Earth orbit over the course of the last several years since the company’s first launch.
T-Mobile is in the process of constructing one of the most extensive 5G networks in the United States in order to give users fast internet access on their phones and in their homes.
Their approach is in direct competition with that of Jeff Bezos, another billionaire who owns Amazon.com Inc. and whose low-Earth orbit satellite firm, Kuiper Systems LLC, signed a similar partnership with Verizon Communications Inc. last year. Project Kuiper, which is run by Amazon.com, secured in April what is believed to be the biggest launch agreement ever for the purpose of sending over 3,000 satellites into orbit.