Charter and comfinity are late to the party…
https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/why-one-giant-leap-smartphones-finally-imminent-ulf-ewaldsson-jppuc/
Ulf Ewaldsson
Ulf Ewaldsson
President of Technology at T-Mobile
Published Dec 16, 2024
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“We choose to go to the moon in this decade and do the other things, not because they are easy, but because they are hard…” – President John F Kennedy in 1962.
As I’ve I talked to friends, family and business partners over the years about the potential to fill in coverage gaps using satellite technology, I’m sometimes surprised by the response. For some, there’s a confusion, a question of why we’re not already connected everywhere via satellites. After all, seven years after he set the moonshot and nearly 60 years ago from the present, we achieved Kennedy’s challenge to get astronauts to the moon. If we can get people to the moon, why can’t we get satellites to talk to smartphones?
It’s a great question! Now that we’re closing in on launching a beta service with hundreds of Starlink satellites with direct-to-cell capabilities in orbit, I thought it might be interesting to dive into the question… why has it taken so long to get to this point.
Let’s start here: what’s going on right now is ambitious and straight-out-of-a-sci-fi-movie. Think about it: we’re sending a wireless signal from a tiny radio encased in metal, glass and plastic, from earth up to a satellite 217 miles away and traveling at 17,500 mph… and back again! It’s truly stunning, even for someone like me that’s been working in wireless for decades.
and…
https://www.t-mobile.com/news/network/t-mobile-starlink-beta-open-for-all-carriers
Due to high demand, T-Mobile is extending opt-in for the Early Adopter Discount until March 31, 2025
BELLEVUE, Wash. — Feb. 9, 2025 —Minutes ago, during the country’s largest annual sporting event, T-Mobile (NASDAQ: TMUS) introduced the next big thing in wireless — T-Mobile Starlink — to tens of millions of football fans. Now in public beta, this breakthrough service, developed in partnership with Starlink, uses straight-out-of-a-sci-fi-movie satellite and mobile communications technology to help keep people connected — even you, Verizon and AT&T customers — in the more than 500,000 square miles of the country unreached by any carrier’s earth-bound cell towers. That’s nearly the size of two Texases!
T-Mobile Starlink uses specially configured satellites with Direct-to-Cell capabilities orbiting the Earth 200+ miles up in space and traveling at over 17,000 miles per hour to deliver cell phone signals — text messages for now with picture messages, data and voice calls coming later — to and from locations traditional cell towers can’t reach (aka mobile dead zones).
“T-Mobile Starlink is the first and only space-based mobile network in the US that automatically connects to your phone so you can be connected even where no cellular network reaches. It’s a massive technical achievement and an absolute game changer for ALL wireless users,” said Mike Sievert, President and CEO, T-Mobile. “We’re still in the early days — I don’t want to overhype the experience during a beta test — but we’re officially putting ‘no bars’ on notice. Dead zones, your days are numbered at the Un-carrier.”
Maybe rethink about posting a PR Sales Pitch, before you hit send?
ETA: Oddly enough, “xfinity” mobile is an MVNO that uses venusian’s Cell Network exclusively and T-Mo is working with Starlink to include vz subs in their partnership.