T-Mobile US, Inc. TMUS sent and received the first-ever wireless emergency alert (WEA) with the help of SpaceX’s Starlink satellites earlier this month, the company said on Wednesday.
What Happened: The test alert was initiated at 5:13 p.m. PT on Sept. 5 and sent 217 miles into space where it was received by a Starlink satellite in low-Earth orbit. The satellite functioned as a cell tower in space and broadcast the alert to a specific geographic area which was then received by a T-Mobile smartphone, the company said. The entire process just took seconds, the company said.
WEA is a public safety system that allows customers who own compatible mobile devices to receive geographically targeted, text-like messages alerting them of imminent threats to safety in their area such as hurricanes and fires.
“The breakthrough opens up the 500,000 square miles of lightly populated, mountainous and/or uninhabitable land across the country to critical, life-saving emergency alerts,” T-Mobile said about its success with the test alert. The company added that everyone, including non-T-Mobile customers, will receive the emergency alerts.
The involvement of satellites will resolve the issue of people not getting emergency alerts when they are off the cellular network grid, the company added.
Why It Matters: T-Mobile and SpaceX announced a partnership in August 2022 aiming to connect the smartphones on T-Mobile’s network to Starlink satellites. The partnership is aimed at providing connectivity to remote locations that are untouched by cell signals from any provider.
The two are currently testing the satellite-to-smartphone service. Starlink parent SpaceX is looking to launch more satellites in the coming months which will function as a cell tower in space to enhance the service, T-Mobile said on Wednesday.
“As that happens, T-Mobile intends to beta test the service before launching it commercially,” the company added.
“Starlink will be able to fill in all gaps in coverage from our vantage point in LEO. When cell phone towers fail, we will be transmitting from space directly to users' mobile phones for maximum safety,” Ben Longmier, Senior Director of Satellite Engineering at SpaceX, said in a post on social media platform X. “These emergency messages, and the normal Direct to Cell service, will work to all phones, including iPhones.”
SpaceX plans to roll out texting services with the help of Starlink satellites by the end of 2024, followed by voice calls, data, and internet-of-things (IoT) services in 2025.
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