Beta Registration Opens For Starlink iPhone Connectivity

Back in 2022 T-Mobile and SpaceX announced a partnership that would see the cell carrier’s customers able to use Starlink satellites to maintain a connection when in an area that would otherwise not offer coverage. It’s taken two years for that to come to fruition, but it’s finally here.

Last week it was confirmed that T-Mobile is now allowing people to register as beta testers for Starlink connectivity using their iPhones as well as other devices, but the testing itself isn’t expected to begin until 2025.

Testers will be able to send text messages during the beta program. However, support for additional connectivity options including voice communication is coming in the future.

Coming on the heels of FCC approval, T-Mobile has opened registration for a beta program for T-Mobile Starlink, a direct-to-cell satellite service that will help eliminate dead zones by providing coverage for the 500,000 square miles of land in the United States not covered by earth-bound cell towers

T-Mobile says that the beta is available to all customers including businesses, with the aim being to eliminate dead zones.

“T-Mobile Starlink is the first major low-earth orbit constellation in the world paired with terrestrial cellular spectrum, making the phone in your pocket work in areas of the U.S. that have never, and probably never will, have ground-based coverage,” Mike Katz, President of Marketing, Strategy and Products at T-Mobile said via press release. “It’s a truly groundbreaking engineering breakthrough and means that we are one step closer to helping T-Mobile customers have confidence that, no matter where they are, if they can see the sky, they will be covered by T-Mobile.”