T-Mobile partnered with Starlink to provide T-Satellite in early access back in February. It’s been free during the public beta, and offers a cellular connection from space to provide texting capabilities to compatible devices.
Now, during today’s “Trade-offs left the chat” livestream, T-Mobile has announced not only the full launch date for T-Satellite, which will be July 23rd, but also that T-Satellite is gaining data capabilities way sooner than we thought.
T-Satellite will be launching data connectivity to select apps on Oct 1. The service will provide a data connection via satellite to apps that partner directly with T-Mobile. So far, that includes things like mapping apps (Google Maps, Apple Maps, etc), music streaming services, weather apps, and some social media apps like Twitter and WhatsApp. Of course, T-Life will also be compatible.
T-Mobile is also inviting app developers to contact the company via email to get started with making their apps compatible.
In addition, T-Mobile plans to offer all cellular users in the country with a compatible device access to 911 texting services via satellite at no cost.
With the official launch next month, T-Mobile is also making MMS messages, including short audio clips and images, available to T-Satellite customers.
The service will be free for Go5G Next and Experience Beyond customers, with any other customer, including Verizon, AT&T, and other non-T-Mobile customers, for just $10 per month.
T-Mobile says over 1.8 million people signed up for the T-Satellite beta, with hundreds of thousands of those being from other carriers. T-Satellite connects automatically when there’s no terrestrial towers to connect to, and the service works via a secondary eSIM for customers not on T-Mobile’s plans.
Look forward to the full launch of T-Satellite on July 23rd, with data coming on October 1st.
