Musk plans to connect cell phones to satellites to boost coverage with SpaceX and T-Mobile

US wireless carrier T-Mobile US (NASDAQ:TMUS) Inc announced on Thursday it will use Elon Musk-owned SpaceX's Starlink satellites to provide network access to mobile users in parts of the US, outlining plans to connect users' cell phones directly to orbiting satellites.

The new plans, which will sit alongside T-mobile's existing cellular services, will eliminate the need for cell towers and offer text and image sending service where cell coverage is currently lacking, which is key for emergencies in remote areas, Musk said Thursday at a glitzy event at his company's rocket facility in south Texas. Starlink's satellites will use T-Mobile's mid-band spectrum to build a new network. Most of the phones used by the company's customers will be compatible with the new service, which will begin with messaging services in a beta phase starting late next year. SpaceX has launched nearly 3,000 Starlink satellites in low Earth orbit since 2019, outpacing rivals OneWeb and Amazon.com Inc (NASDAQ:AMZN)'s Project Kuiper. Musk said SpaceX's next generation of Starlink satellites, the first of which is scheduled to be launched on SpaceX's next-generation Starship rocket when fully developed, will have larger antennas that will provide direct connections to cell phones on the T-mobile network. https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1562956451538014209 "We are building a special antenna. ... These are actually very large antennas that are very advanced," he said. "The important thing is you won't need to buy a new phone. The phone you have now will work." Meanwhile, US telecom firms are in a race to build out the mid-band portion of their 5G networks to catch up with T-Mobile, which has 2.5 GHz of mid-band spectrum after buying rival Sprint. The mid-band, or C-Band, has proven to be perfect for 5G as it provides a good balance of capacity and coverage. The carrier said it aims to maintain voice and data coverage after the beta phase of its messaging services. Satellite communications firm AST SpaceMobile Inc is also building a global cellular broadband network in space that will work with mobile devices without the need for additional hardware.   Follow Global Economic Developments on Social Media! Click here to follow Ieconomy official Facebook account! Click here to follow Ieconomy official Instagram account! Click here to follow Ieconomy official Twitter account!