{"id":13361,"date":"2022-08-28T14:42:56","date_gmt":"2022-08-28T14:42:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/scienceandnerds.com\/2022\/08\/28\/satellite-to-phone-companies-are-thrilled-about-spacex-and-t-mobile-actually\/"},"modified":"2022-08-28T14:42:58","modified_gmt":"2022-08-28T14:42:58","slug":"satellite-to-phone-companies-are-thrilled-about-spacex-and-t-mobile-actually","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/scienceandnerds.com\/2022\/08\/28\/satellite-to-phone-companies-are-thrilled-about-spacex-and-t-mobile-actually\/","title":{"rendered":"Satellite-to-phone companies are thrilled about SpaceX and T-Mobile, actually"},"content":{"rendered":"

Source: https:\/\/www.theverge.com\/2022\/8\/27\/23324128\/t-mobile-spacex-satellite-to-phone-technology-ast-lynk-industry-reactions-apple<\/a>
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On Thursday, Elon Musk got on stage with T-Mobile CEO Mike Sievert to announce that SpaceX is working with the carrier to completely eliminate cellular dead zones<\/a>. The companies claim that next-generation Starlink satellites, set to launch next year, will be able to communicate directly with phones, letting you text, make calls, and potentially stream video even when there are no cell towers nearby. What\u2019s more, Musk promised all this is possible with phones that people are using today, without consumers having to buy any extra equipment.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s a bold proclamation from the carrier \u2014 Verizon and AT&T don\u2019t offer anything like it. However, SpaceX and T-Mobile aren\u2019t the only companies looking to use satellites to directly communicate with cell phones using existing cell spectrum. For years<\/a> a company called AST SpaceMobile has promised that it will beam broadband to phones from space, and a company called Lynk Global has already demonstrated<\/a> that its satellite \u201ccell towers\u201d can be used to send text messages from regular phones. It\u2019s easy to imagine that these companies would be afraid that two giants were suddenly looking to get in on a similar game \u2014 but it turns out that\u2019s not the case at all. They actually seem delighted.<\/p>\n

Who\u2019s competing with SpaceX and T-Mobile in satellite-to-phone tech?<\/h2>\n

\u201cWe love the validation and the attention that this is bringing to this technology,\u201d said Lynk\u2019s CEO, Charles Miller, in an interview with The Verge<\/em>. \u201cWe\u2019ve been getting all kinds of calls of carriers today who are like \u2018help us!\u2019\u201d <\/p>\n

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Earlier this year, Lynk deployed its first commercial satellite, which was ferried into orbit by a SpaceX Falcon 9.<\/em><\/figcaption>Image: Lynk<\/a><\/cite><\/p>\n

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Lynk\u2019s initial goal is similar to SpaceX\u2019s \u2014 it\u2019s partnering with a number of carriers around the world to let their customers send texts using a satellite network it\u2019s currently in the process of building. Like T-Mobile\u2019s presentation, Miller especially stressed the tech\u2019s importance during emergencies and natural disasters, where things like hurricanes, wildfires, flooding, or earthquakes can take down traditional cell networks. \u201cIt\u2019s resilience. It\u2019s instant backup working for everybody on Earth. Your phones, even though the towers are down, can communicate,\u201d he said. \u201cThis will save lives.\u201d<\/p>\n

Miller\u2019s pitch is very similar to Sievert\u2019s and Musk\u2019s, but he doesn\u2019t seem particularly worried about competing in the same space (pun intended) as them. Part of his confidence comes from Lynk being an early leader in the market \u2014 it claims that in early 2020, it became the first to send a text message to an unmodified cell phone from space<\/a>. \u201cWe think there\u2019s going to be more big companies jump in. They have years and years to go. They\u2019re years behind us,\u201d he said. \u201cWe\u2019re going to be like \u2018wonderful! Educate the world that this technology is done.\u2019 And when we start rolling it out at the end of this year, people are going to go, \u2018I want it.\u2019 They\u2019re not going to want to wait years for it.\u201d <\/p>\n

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