At 5:13 PM PT on Thursday, September 5th, T-Mobile initiated a test alert for a hypothetical evacuation notice. The alert was sent 217 miles into space where it was received by one of the more than 175 Starlink direct-to-smartphone satellites currently in low earth orbit that effectively function as cell towers in space. The alert was then broadcast to a geographic area impacted by the hypothetical evacuation notice and received by a T-Mobile smartphone.
T-Mobile says it took just seconds to queue up the message and deliver it over satellite. This rapid communication capability is critical when conventional wireless coverage is not available, ensuring that users receive emergency alerts promptly.
In 2022, T-Mobile and SpaceX announced a partnership that would let people text, make phone calls, and use data on their T-Mobile phones using Starlink's satellites. As part of this initiative, T-Mobile intends to beta test the service before launching it commercially.
[
Collection
]
[
|
...
]