SpaceX launched its first set of six mobile phone-connecting satellites in early January.
A week after launching the satellites from California’s Vandenberg Space Force base, SpaceX posted on X that it had sent and received the first text messages through its new mobile connection satellites.
In Australia, Optus and SpaceX are pioneering brand-new connectivity and are working to bring mobile coverage to 100 per cent of Australia, including King Island.
Once the service is activated customers will be connected “nearly everywhere they can see the sky and in most cases with the phone they already have,” an Optus spokesperson said, adding that dead zones would become a thing of the past “even in the most remote locations”.
Optus managing director of revenue and marketing Matt Williams said mobiles, laptops and wearables such as smartwatches would be able to connect to the service.
“What’s really important about this is that it’s not using any special devices and doesn’t require a new satellite phone; it doesn’t require any particular software, it’s just using your standard mobile phone that is in your pocket right now,” he said.
SpaceX President Gwynne Shotwell said via X that “satellite connectivity direct to cell [mobile] phones will have a tremendous impact around the world, helping people communicate wherever and whenever they want or need to.”.
Starlink is the name of the satellite network developed by SpaceX to provide low-cost unlimited internet to remote locations and many King Islanders have left the Telstra and NBN Sky Muster network to use Starlink at their fixed address.
“Mobile networks cover approximately only one-third of our land mass. In planning to cover 100 per cent of Australia, including Bass Strait and King Island, Optus is collaborating with SpaceX to pioneer a type of connectivity never before seen in our country,” an Optus spokesperson said
“The service will complement our existing mobile networks, allowing customers to connect to the SpaceX Low Earth Orbit satellite-based network from their mobile phone when outside the coverage area of our terrestrial mobile network.”
Last year Telstra announced its own deal with Starlink. Telstra is set to sell broadband and voice services for rural and remote customers powered by Starlink. This is vastly different to the Optus plan to use Starlink to deliver mobile-to-satellite services using the Starlink satellite constellation. The Telstra relationship is aimed at the improvement of satellite-based internet services for rural homes and businesses. The Optus deal relates to direct-to-mobile coverage, specifically to eradicate blackspots and cater for no-mobile coverage Australia-wide. The providers and SpaceX companies will “extensively” test the satellite-to-phone service.
“The service will complement our existing mobile networks, allowing customers to connect to the SpaceX Low Earth Orbit satellite-based network from their mobile phone when outside the coverage area of our terrestrial mobile network,” the Optus spokesperson said.
“Our landmark collaboration will aim to provide the entirety of the continent with SMS coverage from late 2024, followed by voice and data from late 2025, so you can be more confident about connecting.”
The same SIM cards that a phone uses to connect to a satellite could also be used by households for home internet. That will only come into play if the capacity is high enough because home internet usage is typically much higher than mobile phone data
“We anticipate the service will work with most existing 4G VoLTE capable mobile handsets, meaning an upgrade should not be necessary,” Optus said.