T-Mobile prepares to open beta service for Starlink direct-to-cell messaging. Photo: T-Mobile

T-Mobile is preparing to start beta testing with SpaceX’s Starlink direct-to-cell satellite service in early 2025 and opened registration on Monday for a limited number of slots to participate in the beta tests. 

T-Mobile customers can sign up to be a part of the free beta program and have early access to text messaging in dead zones not covered by cell towers. The beta will only include the ability to send text messages, but T-Mobile said voice and data capabilities are on the road map for future service.

Announcing the beta program on Dec. 16, T-Mobile said the Starlink beta program is open and free for all T-Mobile postpaid voice customers including businesses and first responders that have a compatible device. T-Mobile said it will provide more details on optimized phones the beta service opens in early 2025. 

T-Mobile said it expects to launch the full service “sometime in 2025.” 

This milestone comes after the FCC granted approval for the service, and SpaceX finished launching the first shell of satellites with this capability last week. While SpaceX has more than 6,000 Starlink satellites in orbit, just 330 satellites are equipped for this type of service. 

SpaceX and T-Mobile have been working together since 2022 to enable this service. When the collaboration was announced in 2022, SpaceX targeted a late 2023 debut for the service. 

“T-Mobile Starlink is the first major Low-Earth Orbit constellation in the world paired with terrestrial cellular spectrum, making the phone in your pocket work in areas of the U.S. that have never, and probably never will, have ground based coverage,” said Mike Katz, president of marketing, strategy and products, T-Mobile. 

“It’s a truly groundbreaking engineering breakthrough and means that we are one step closer to helping T-Mobile customers have confidence that, no matter where they are, if they can see the sky, they will be covered by T-Mobile,” Katz added. 

The carrier said it expects the service to be “much more user friendly than other satellite messaging services currently in the market,” and that users don’t have to hold up their phones to search for a signal. 

Apple offers satellite messaging with the iPhone 14 and up, and Google included satellite SOS messaging in the Pixel 9.