SpaceX Hint at Launching Own 4G via LEO Satellite Based Starlink Mobile Service
Mobile operators across the world, including some of Starlink’s own partners, have been put on notice of greater competition after SpaceX’s CEO, Elon Musk, hinted he might use his mega-constellation of ultrafast broadband satellites to launch his own mobile network. Musk has now filed to trademark the name “Starlink Mobile“.
Starlink currently has around 9,100 satellites in orbit (c.5,600 are v2 / V2 Mini) – mostly at altitudes of c.500-600km. Residential customers in the UK usually pay from £55 a month, plus £299 for hardware (currently free for many areas) on the ‘Residential Lite’ unlimited data plan (kit price may vary due to different offers) directly from Starlink, which promises downloads of up to 250Mbps (175Mbps average) and uploads of c.15-35Mbps. Faster packages exist at greater cost and cheaper, albeit more restrictive (data capped), options also exist for roaming users (e.g. £50 per month for 50 GigaBytes of data).
However, Starlink also operates a Direct to Cell (DtC) solution for mobile operators that choose to partner with it, which enables their DtC equipped satellites to deliver “robust” global coverage of a 4G mobile roaming service to regular unmodified Smartphones on the ground (assuming domestic regulators approve it). For example, O2 UK (Virgin Media) recently joined DtC and plans to launch O2 Satellite in the near future (here).
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The service delivered via DtC is less about performance (it’s capacity constrained) and more about ensuring customers can stay connected, for basic tasks (calls, texts and pro-approved data apps/tasks), even in remote areas where terrestrial mobile signals are often very weak, unreliable or even non-existent.
Despite this, Elon Musk recently hinted that Starlink may launch its own mobile service directly for consumers (here), which might potentially be a bit uncomfortable for some of their DtC partners. Musk also suggested that he might acquire an existing mobile operator to help make the transition.
The latest development is that Musk has now filed to trademark “Starlink Mobile” and “Powered by Starlink” with the US Patent and Trademark Office. Not to mention that the company’s recent $17bn deal to acquire valuable radio spectrum from EchoStar could give it more capacity to deliver a much more capable mobile service than DtC in the future, which may push it beyond being a mere roaming add-on. Time will tell.
Mark is a professional technology writer, IT consultant and computer engineer from Dorset (England), he also founded ISPreview in 1999 and enjoys analysing the latest telecoms and broadband developments. Find me on X (Twitter), Mastodon, Facebook, BlueSky, Threads.net and Linkedin.
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