Communication · 2025

Direct-to-cell satellite service

Ordinary phones text straight to satellites where no tower reaches.

T-Mobile and SpaceX launched the T-Satellite service commercially in July 2025, letting unmodified phones send texts via Starlink satellites acting as orbiting cell towers. It extends basic connectivity to the large share of land area that terrestrial networks do not cover.

See it in the living tree Wikipedia

Arcs above join it to what it stood on, arcs below to what it led to. The bar places this stretch on the tree's whole timeline.

What it built on 2

Starlink 2019
5G 2019

What it led to 1

Satellite broadband to every phone ~2029

Related measurements

The dashed line marks when it first worked.

Mobile phone subscriptions per 100 people Latest: 112 per 100 people (2025) Source: Our World in Data

Payloads in low Earth orbit Latest: 14.5k objects (2025) Source: Our World in Data

Share of people online Latest: 73.6 % (2025) Source: Our World in Data