T-Mobile US customers can sign up for Starlink direct-to-cell

The news is something of a milestone for the service, which has been some years in the planning. It's not quite the year-end service launch that T-Mobile was initially shooting for – although it has gone quiet on projected timeframes in recent months – but it certainly ticks a progress box.

And the companies haven't wasted much time. This announcement comes less than a month after they got the green light from the FCC, despite strong opposition from industry rivals.

Customers can sign up now – and that's all customers, including businesses and first responders – but the beta programme will begin "early next year;" we don't yet have a more concrete date than that. Nor do we know how long the beta programme is likely to last.

The beta programme is open to all postpaid voice customers with a compatible device and is offered free of charge.

"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 US that have never, and probably never will, have ground based coverage," said Mike Katz, President of Marketing, Strategy and Products at T-Mobile US. "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."

There's more than a touch of marketing hype in there, but Katz has a point. Getting the direct-to-cell service to market, or to the beta phase at least, is no mean feat.

At this stage, direct-to-cell is text messaging only. As T-Mobile and Starlink have told us from the outset, voice and data communications will come at a later date. Indeed, the FCC's approval only covers the text messaging element of the offer; it deferred a decision on the looser power emission rules Starlink has requested that it needs to extend the service.

We still have a slightly nebulous "in the future" prediction for voice and data, which is doubtless due to the uncertainties of the regulatory process as much as anything.

As for text messages, we have already had some evidence that the system works. T-Mobile and Starlink turned the service on temporarily during the recent hurricanes that battered parts of the US, providing comms and emergency alerts for those affected.

Starlink has yet to put its full constellation into service, but nonetheless customers were able to communicate when satellites were overhead, T-Mobile noted. Further, using the system during the hurricanes will help it to further refine the service as it heads towards commercial launch.

Whenever that launch comes, it will be accompanied by much fanfare. T-Mobile will not let a 'first to market' PR opportunity pass. Its major telco rivals are less far down the direct-to-cell path and there's no real race to launch here, but it is – understandably – keen to get those cell towers in space up and running. Neither it nor Starlink will drag their feet and if all goes to plan that beta phase should shift to commercial launch relatively quickly.