• Operator claims a US direct-to-cell first in partnership with Starlink
• Beta testing of the wireless emergency alert messaging service is still to be carried out and there is no timeframe for commercial launch
• T-Mobile says satellite-to-smartphone tech paves way to providing critical emergency alerts in large swathes of areas unreachable with earth-based cell towers
• Would-be satellite-to-smartphone rivals, AT&T and Verizon – which are backing LEO player AST SpaceMobile – are still grounded but perhaps not for long

T-Mobile US underlined its lead in the country’s nascent satellite-to-smartphone market after it successfully sent and received a wireless emergency alert (WEA) via satellite, which it claimed was the “first ever” of its kind. 

Using the low-earth orbit (LEO) satellite constellation of Starlink, an Elon Musk SpaceX company, T-Mobile US hailed the WEA as a technology “breakthrough” and one that “opens up the 500,000 square miles of lightly populated, mountainous and/or uninhabitable land across the country to critical, life-saving emergency alerts”.

In echoes of the film Terminator 2, which gave a precise date when Skynet becomes self-aware and changes the course of humanity, T-Mobile, somewhat eerily, said: “At 5:13pm  PT [Pacific Time] on Thursday, September 5th, T-Mobile initiated a test alert for a hypothetical evacuation notice.”

Unlike Skynet, of course, T-Mobile is out to save lives with its “groundbreaking” WEA service. “This is one of those days, as the CEO of a wireless company, that makes me pause for a moment and reflect on how technology advancements and the work we’re doing is truly impacting life-and-death situations,” reflected T-Mobile’s Mike Sievert.

The alert was sent 217 miles into space where it was received by one of the more than 175 Starlink LEO satellites currently capable of handling direct-to-smartphone comms. The alert was then broadcast to a geographic area affected by the hypothetical evacuation notice and received by a T-Mobile smartphone. It took emergency operators “just seconds”, said T-Mobile, to queue up the WEA and deliver it to users on the ground via satellite.

T-Mobile will now conduct WEA beta testing, but no commercial timeframe was set for the messaging service. The operator stressed that when it is live, AT&T and Verizon subscribers – as well customers of other service providers – will not be left high and dry. They too will be able to access T‑Mobile’s WEA service. 

SpaceX partnership gives T-Mobile head start

T-Mobile first announced its partnership with Space X in August 2022, stating at the time its intention to remove all “dead zones” – places in the US where there is no wireless connectivity – by using Starlink’s LEO satellite constellation. Elon Musk recently posted on X, however, that T-Mobile has a one-year exclusivity period with Starlink, after which its direct-to-cell capability will be made available to other operators. It wasn’t clear from Musk’s post when that one-year exclusivity period started.

Both AT&T and Verizon have picked AST SpaceMobile as their LEO satellite route to full country coverage, but they have had to bide their time. The wait may soon be over, however. After some delays, AST SpaceMobile’ first five LEO satellites are due to launch today.

- Ken Wieland, Contributing Editor, TelecomTV