Musk says Starlink will look beyond T-Mobile US

Elon Musk revealed Starlink will commit to T-Mobile US exclusively for about a year before opening up to other operators in the US for satellite-to-phone deals, as the quirky billionaire continued to tease details about the pair’s relationship.

In a post on his social media site X, Musk stated T-Mobile has exclusive access to Starlink birds to offer internet services, but only for the first year. After the initial 12 months, the satellite operator will seek deals with rival mobile service providers.

Musk said Starlink ultimately wants to work with every mobile operator in every country, but will begin with one deal in each market.

The executive outlined the plan in a reply to a message from SpaceX senior director of satellite engineering Ben Longmier highlighting the addition of 26 birds capable of delivering services to mobile phones in synchronised launches on a pair of Falcon F9 rockets in the closing days of last month.

Longmier wrote the launch brings the total number of compatible Starlink satellites in orbit to 168.

T-Mobile and Starlink got together in August 2022, but have been unclear on the nature of their relationship since, in particular when services would launch.

In May, Starlink parent SpaceX revealed plans to launch a “commercial direct-to-cellular” service in the US later this year in documents filed with the Federal Communications Commission.

Musk’s latest proclamation appears to indicate Starlink’s debut with T-Mobile will initially offer internet access, a different approach by the operator compared with domestic rivals AT&T and Verizon, which apparently aim to first offer messaging services through deals with other satellite service providers.

T-Mobile is one of a growing list of global operators Starlink agreed deals with, including Rogers Communications in Canada, Optus in Australia and Japan-based KDDI, among others.