Do you boldly go where no one has gone before? At least, to where there isn’t cell phone service? You may be concerned about what could happen if an emergency came up and you needed help. Now cellular provider T-Mobile will help, even if you’re a Verizon or AT&T cell user. Text-by-satellite is a reality for the masses.
Text-by-satellite option is $10 a month
T-Mobile opened up text-by-satellite to its customers earlier this year. Now they’ve dropped the price for the service to $10 a month for the SpaceX-facilitated system. Find yourself out of cell range? Caught up in a disaster, and cell service is offline? No problem. You can send text messages via the SpaceX system.
The system even works on older, “legacy” phones. T-Mobile cut a deal with the Federal Communications Commission to get permission, stressing the need for communications in emergency situations. All you’ll need to do is subscribe and download an eSIM for your smartphone.
According to a story carried by teslarati.com, T-Mobile is pushing the new text-by-satellite service hard. “We saw huge interest — even from people on other carriers — so we’ve decided to lock in the launch price at just $10 a month,” said T-Mobile CEO Mike Sievert during a company earnings call on Thursday. He also noted that this pricing will be available for at least the first year.
Could expand into voice, perhaps even data
While the service is text-only, things could develop into voice calls, and potentially even data use could eventually develop. No doubt the price would rise if and when those bells and whistles become available.
Text-by-satellite service is available now for Verizon and AT&T customers on a free beta-test mode. Come July, the $10 monthly fee will take hold. Click here for more information.
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RVT1207b
Thank you, Russ and Tina! Interesting news. Have a great day and safe travels!
I have an AT&T phone. I used the link above and it asked to switch to T-Mobile. Does this service work for AT&T?
Hi, Nick. I’m not sure where things stand on that. Maybe check with AT&T? Sorry. Have a great day. 😀 –Diane at RVtravel.com
To be clear It’s Starlink not SpaceX
I had signed up for the Beta Testing and just received a notice today that I was accepted. One caveat, you must have an unlocked phone. After a call to AT&T, they refused to unlock my phone since I bought it under a promotion. I had to pay off the balance of my phone ($600) in order to download the T-Mobile service. I now have 2 eSims on my iphone, one for AT&T my service provider and one for T-Mobile as a backup to our data. Have not had a chance to see if it works yet.
Thanks for the update, Nick. Please keep us posted. Good luck! Have a great day! 😀 –Diane at RVtravel.com