T-Mobile and SpaceX turn on satellite texting due to fires in Los Angeles
As Fires continue to ravage the Los Angeles area, T Mobile And SpaceX announced Thursday evening that they have activated Starlink coverage for those who need it.
“Today, T-Mobile and Starlink opened the T-Mobile Starlink Direct-to-Cellular service to affected areas of Southern California to deliver wireless emergency alerts and text messages and to enable emergency calling via SMS,” the carrier said. “While SpaceX’s direct-to-cell constellation has not yet been fully deployed, we are once again making this early test version temporarily available to those who need it most.”
The operator says its network has “remained strong” and that it has also restored “approximately half of the sites affected by commercial power outages.”
“As conditions safely permit, our teams are assessing affected sites in Altadena, Duarte, Calabasas, Malibu, Fillmore and Agoura Hills and will continue to deploy and refuel portable generators at the sites until commercial power is restored.”
The Los Angeles fires are the latest use of the new satellite feature to keep users connected during a natural disaster. The service was previously activated in response Hurricane Milton And Helene last year.
As with Hurricanes, texting via satellite is limited to T-Mobile users with “supported phones.” However, wireless emergency alerts and evacuation messages can be sent via the satellites to anyone in affected areas, regardless of their cell phone provider.
It’s worth mentioning again that these are SMS or traditional text messages that occur through your phone’s regular messaging app. It doesn’t work with internet-based messaging services or apps like iMessage, WhatsApp or Facebook Messenger. T-Mobile tells CNET that supported devices include “most” Android phones and iPhones older than the iPhone 14 series.
Apple users with an iPhone 14 (or newer) using iOS 18 can also send iMessages via satellite regardless of the mobile phone provider in areas where they have no coverage Apple’s partnership with satellite company Globalstar. T-Mobile says users with these iPhones will use Apple’s satellite services, not SpaceX’s Starlink.
While the service has been used in emergency situations, the deployment in Los Angeles comes shortly after T-Mobile and SpaceX announced it They would begin beta testing the service this year and opened the registration.
Check this out: Apple vs. Google: Satellite emergency features compared
