T-Mobile and SpaceX got emergency approval from the Federal Communications Commission this past weekend to use the latter’s Starlink service to send emergency alerts to those affected by Hurricane Helene in areas where cell service remains down. With Hurricane Milton now bearing down on Florida, T-Mobile tells CNET that it’s planning to continue with emergency alerts via satellite for Milton as well as enabling satellite texting.
In a statement Tuesday, the carrier noted that wireless emergency alerts will be “on and the teams may enable other messaging services like SMS in the coming days.” While messaging will be a T-Mobile-only feature, the emergency alerts can be sent to all users in the affected area, not just those on T-Mobile.
In a post on X on Tuesday evening, SpaceX confirmed that SMS messaging has been enabled.
In addition to the thousands (>10k) of Starlink kits we are delivering in response to Hurricane Helene, the @Starlink team and @TMobile activated our Direct to Cell satellites to provide emergency alerts for all phones and carriers of those in affected areas.
The @FCC has also…— SpaceX (@SpaceX) October 8, 2024
It’s worth noting that this is SMS, or traditional text messaging, and is done through your phone’s regular messages app. It won’t work with internet-based messaging services or apps like iMessage, WhatsApp or Facebook Messenger.
T-Mobile and SpaceX announced plans to start using the Starlink satellites to provide space-based coverage for T-Mobile’s network back in 2022. While the service was aimed at filling in dead zones that otherwise couldn’t be covered by terrestrial networks, it’s quickly proving to be valuable for connecting people during national emergencies.
T-Mobile has previously said that when it first launches its satellite service with SpaceX, it would start with messaging apps before potentially expanding to include voice and data in the future.
Read more: How Carriers Keep Phones Working During Disasters
This is what it looks like to receive a text that someone sent using a satellite. Notice the “iMessage • Satellite” annotation above the date.
T-Mobile’s option isn’t the first satellite messaging feature available to consumers, but it does work for most phones supported by the carrier — including both Android and iPhone.
Starting with iOS 18 last month, Apple has allowed owners of an iPhone 14 or later to use its satellite network (through its partner Globalstar) to iMessage contacts as well as for connecting with emergency services regardless of which wireless carrier they have. Apple’s option doesn’t work with SMS or other messaging apps and is limited to just iMessages.
Watch this: Messages via Satellite in iOS 18: First Look
Google Pixel 9 owners can use their phones to connect to satellites (with Google partner Skylo) to message emergency services, again irrespective of which wireless network they’re normally on.
Verizon is planning to use Skylo to enable regular text messaging on Android phones via satellites, but tells CNET that the feature “will come in early 2025 for many customers” and is not going to be available for Milton.
The T-Mobile/SpaceX satellite option would work alongside Apple’s satellite offering, but T-Mobile’s system would get priority for customers who have both a recent iPhone (iPhone 14, 15 or 16) and the carrier’s service. This is because the T-Mobile/SpaceX option would appear to users like regular cellular connectivity, while Apple’s option only kicks in when there is no coverage at all.
According to SpaceX, when you are connected to its service your phone will say “T-Mobile SpaceX” in the network name and will have “will have 1 to 2 bars of signal” strength displayed. The company notes that “users may have to manually retry text messages if they don’t go through at first, as this is being delivered on a best-effort basis.”
It adds that while “the service works best outdoors” it also “occasionally works indoors near a window.”
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