T-Mobile and SpaceX's Satellite Connectivity Likely Won't Require an iPhone 14

[ApplesAreSweet&Sour]

It would be interesting to know how long this will take to implement, and why the announcement happened now.

It smells an awful lot like some insider has definite proof that Apple is doing a satellite connectivity with another partner (globalstar? or another carrier) for one or more of its "Far Out" products.

So this is a way to divert attention or keep anyone from switching post iPhone 14 launch if any T-Mobile costumers get the urge to jump to Apple's satellite solution asap?

Obviously just speculating on my part and it could be mere coincidence as a result of SpaceX wanting to make more money of off Starlink. But I don't remember hearing about this partnership before or plans to let cellphones connect to Starlink?

Or is it just yet another future Elon vapor product created to divert attention from his vast back catalogue of broken promises?

It just seems like a weird thing to announce so early when there's no product to launch yet and no pricing. But I guess that's how Elon does things.

 

[aajeevlin]

The technology and the future applications behind it are exciting. The fact that it's T-Mobile is disappointing. I'm currently on T-Mobile and can't wait to get away. Sure, we have some form of signal pretty much everywhere we go but that apparently doesn't mean it's usable. Dropped calls, non-functioning internet, etc. Hell, my data connectivity dropped down to Edge the other day. Edge. In 2022.

Trust me it’s not like Verizon is THAT much better. There are times where my Verizon would say it has 2 bars and LTE and it won’t connect at all. At this point they are all more or less the same just depends which dead spot you are going to hit.

 

[aajeevlin]

It smells an awful lot like some insider has definite proof that Apple is doing a satellite connectivity with another partner (globalstar? or another carrier) for one or more of its "Far Out" products.

So this is a way to divert attention or keep anyone from switching post iPhone 14 launch if any T-Mobile costumers get the urge to jump to Apple's satellite solution asap?

Obviously just speculating on my part and it could be mere coincidence as a result of SpaceX wanting to make more money of off Starlink. But I don't remember hearing about this partnership before or plans to let cellphones connect to Starlink?

Or is it just yet another future Elon vapor product created to divert attention from his vast back catalogue of broken promises?

It just seems like a weird thing to announce so early when there's no product to launch yet and no pricing. But I guess that's how Elon does things.

Wait a sec, you guys do realized Starlink is a thing right? He already has a fleet of 1800+ working satellite on low Earth orbit. This is not something he has to build. Sure he might have to continue to upgrade but the infrastructure is pretty much all there.

 

[ApplesAreSweet&Sour]

It's more limited than that. "Anywhere in the world" in this context means just the cities on the east and west coasts of the US.

Yeah. And let's not forget the whole thing about all the various international carriers that still want to make billions every year in their territories.

Something tells me "connect to T-Mobile/Starlink anywhere in the World" isn't exactly something competing carriers, national and international, want to cooperate with. Well, at least not without T-Mobile paying them substantial fees.

 

[Mr. Dee]

The fact that they are preempting Apple shows that they are scared. Apple will have this ready at launch and improve it beyond that. I wouldn't be surprised if by the end of the decade Apple become its own carrier. But taking it one step at a time. Next step is having its own 5G modem. Apple should give themselves some leg room to work on the car (no pun). Wait until California's mandatory 2035 requirement for all vehicles to be EVs or hydro powered. It will be the perfect time to introduce the Apple Car.

 

[genovelle]

Having been with all three, I rank them as:

T-Mobile > Verizon > AT&T

As such, this is more to ’love’ as far as carriers are concerned

I agree with your rankings. T-Mobile has been great except when they are not. There is no middle ground with the service here. It’s either good or nonexistent.

 

[aajeevlin]

The fact that they are preempting Apple shows that they are scared. Apple will have this ready at launch and improve it beyond that. I wouldn't be surprised if by the end of the decade Apple become its own carrier. But taking it one step at a time. Next step is having its own 5G modem. Apple should give themselves some leg room to work on the car (no pun). Wait until California's mandatory 2035 requirement for all vehicles to be EVs or hydro powered. It will be the perfect time to introduce the Apple Car.

I disagree. One needs to take a look at what exactly they hope to do with this technology. In terms of speed and latency no one can compete with Starlink (they are LEO and they have a massive amount of satellites on orbit), but they are not truly global as they don't cover above certain latitude. Then you have ones like Globalstar (or Iridium), that either uses GEO or also LEO (in the case of Iridium with much fewer satellite on orbit ~77). Iridium has global coverage, but they are extremely slow when compared to Starlink (the fastest Iridium can go is around 1.5 Mbps for data).

Even IF Apple was to build out their own constellation and throw as much money as possible it will take them roughly 5 years, that's assuming they have satellite designed and build already and adding the all the launches. I don't think Tmobile/Starlink is scared at all.

 

[webkit]

It just seems like a weird thing to announce so early when there's no product to launch yet and no pricing. But I guess that's how Elon does things.

Apple has also been known to announce things well in advance of launches e.g., at this year's WWDC in June, they introduced the next generation of CarPlay but the first list of vehicles that will support the new "full dash" CarPlay isn't expected to be released until late 2023 which is a year and a half later.

 

[tivoboy]

Wait a sec, you guys do realized Starlink is a thing right? He already has a fleet of 1800+ working satellite on low Earth orbit. This is not something he has to build. Sure he might have to continue to upgrade but the infrastructure is pretty much all there.

The STARLINK infrastructure for worldwide coverage is not there. But for this it doesn’t really matter.

 

[tivoboy]

Globalstar and Iridium are both global coverage,

globalstar is nowhere near “global coverage”

 

[aajeevlin]

The STARLINK infrastructure for worldwide coverage is not there. But for this it doesn’t really matter.

I do know that and they won’t be, also don’t care for it. Their orbit inclination is too low to global coverage at 53 degree.

 

[aajeevlin]

globalstar is nowhere near “global coverage”

Thanks for the correction.

 

[Juicy Box]

You must live in the middle of nowhere then.

Right in the middle of the Washington–Baltimore metropolitan area, so might as well be the moon, right? /s

T-Mobile just sucks unless you are within the city limits in my experience.

As someone else said, their 4G was trash, and maybe they have improved things with their 5G coverage, but I am hesitant to try T-Mobile again.

 

[SenorWhyMe]

Having been with all three, I rank them as:

T-Mobile > Verizon > AT&T

As such, this is more to ’love’ as far as carriers are concerned

having been in all four it used to be this
Sprint > Verizon > AT&T > T-Mobile
now after being forced to be on T-Mobile it’s
Verizon > AT&T > T-Mobile

my area was well supported by Sprint now it’s sucks so bad that I’m switching pretty soon

 

[Bkfraiders7]

AT&T US and AT&T Mexico (and Vodafone, Rakuten, Nokia, American Tower, and other MOUs covering 2 billion users worldwide) has already/been partnered with AST SpaceMobile ($ASTS) since August 2020 and is arguable much further along on making this direct-to-cellular connection a reality, with the final ASTS test Satellite going into orbit ~September 7th of this year. The FCC has approved an experimental license between AT&T and ASTS https://www.lightreading.com/satell...ed-services-on-atandts-spectrum/d/d-id/777239 to test various AT&T Bands, including FirstNet Band 14 from the satellite. Even more, while SpaceX and T-Mobile are promising roughly 2-4mbps per *cell zone*, ASTS is quoting 4G/5G speeds (~25mbps) per cellular device. Yes, rather than emergency services you can stream Spotify on an island. Watch Netflix on Mt. Everest. Call your mother on a boat in the ocean. And yes, ASTS has patented the technology with 2300 patent and patent pending applications.


Timeline- ASTS is launching their final test satellite BlueWalker 3 onto a SpaceX rocket ~September 7, 2022

Following various testing, and according to their last investor call, 5 BlueBird (Operational Satellites) are expected to launch in late 2023 to provide coverage for equatorial regions of the world. This service will continue to be expanded in 2024, growing outwards.


ASTS Investor Presentation for More Details https://investors.ast-science.com/static-files/1e57f690-0ba5-4ede-9056-01a549aa3246

 

[a.jfred]

One question I don't see answered: How much of my data/personal information was given to Musk as part of this endeavor?

 

[aajeevlin]

“As of August 2022, AST SpaceMobile has launched no satellites.”

Yeah sorry I don’t buy it, this is a numbers game you can do anything if you don’t have salon space I don’t care how many patents you have.

 

[aajeevlin]

AT&T US and AT&T Mexico (and Vodafone, Rakuten, Nokia, American Tower, and other MOUs covering 2 billion users worldwide) has already/been partnered with AST SpaceMobile ($ASTS) since August 2020 and is arguable much further along on making this direct-to-cellular connection a reality, with the final ASTS test Satellite going into orbit ~September 7th of this year. The FCC has approved an experimental license between AT&T and ASTS https://www.lightreading.com/satell...ed-services-on-atandts-spectrum/d/d-id/777239 to test various AT&T Bands, including FirstNet Band 14 from the satellite. Even more, while SpaceX and T-Mobile are promising roughly 2-4mbps per *cell zone*, ASTS is quoting 4G/5G speeds (~25mbps) per cellular device. Yes, rather than emergency services you can stream Spotify on an island. Watch Netflix on Mt. Everest. Call your mother on a boat in the ocean. And yes, ASTS has patented the technology with 2300 patent and patent pending applications.


Timeline- ASTS is launching their final test satellite BlueWalker 3 onto a SpaceX rocket ~September 7, 2022

Following various testing, and according to their last investor call, 5 BlueBird (Operational Satellites) are expected to launch in late 2023 to provide coverage for equatorial regions of the world. This service will continue to be expanded in 2024, growing outwards.


ASTS Investor Presentation for More Details https://investors.ast-science.com/static-files/1e57f690-0ba5-4ede-9056-01a549aa3246

“As of August 2022, AST SpaceMobile has launched no satellites.”

Yeah sorry I don’t buy it, this is a numbers game you can’t do anything if you don’t have satellite in space I don’t care how many patents you have. I’ll believe it when I see it.

 

[MKevin3]

Driving through dead zones in the middle of Kansas this will be nice. Stinks it starts at just text but better than what happens right now which is zero.

 

[twocents]

I would put Verizon above AT&T, no doubt. But curious on your perspective, you'd still put T-Mobile at the top even with more data breaches in the last few years than you can count on one hand?

Yes, in context I remember my dad having T-Mobile in the early 2000s. Based on his experience, the company and service substantially improved with Legere.

With the data breaches, generally for companies it’s considered a matter of when, not if. While the number of times this has happened is concerning, part of the settlement allocates $150m over 2022-23 towards enhancing security measures. Only time will tell whether that holds up.

By comparison, AT&T systematically drove sales to the point where their own corporate policies were violated by artificially inflating direcTV subscribers, misleading pricing on phone plans, and offer unauthorized discounts that resulted in customers paying more.

Meanwhile, a couple years ago Verizon was ordered by the FTC to refund $90m to customers for their flagrant cramming practices... Which seems to be a recurring problem of theirs by charging more on their bills, yet and somehow losing equipment returned to them by *former* customers.

tldr: US carriers suck, pick your poison

 

[twocents]

I agree with your rankings. T-Mobile has been great except when they are not. There is no middle ground with the service here. It’s either good or nonexistent.

Yes, I definitely agree that much of your mileage will vary based on whereabout in the US you are or tend to travel to regularly. For example, when I visit family who live in a more rural area, the LTE coverage overall is good except for a few near-dead zones. I’m really curious to see how well their 5G has rolled out upgrading to the 14PM!

 

[twocents]

having been in all four it used to be this
Sprint > Verizon > AT&T > T-Mobile
now after being forced to be on T-Mobile it’s
Verizon > AT&T > T-Mobile

my area was well supported by Sprint now it’s sucks so bad that I’m switching pretty soon

I’m intrigued as you actually are the first person who I have come across that ranks Sprint the best. For reference my area was too remote at the time when I considered moving to Sprint from AT&T.

Just curious, did the speed and coverage in your area start degrading around the same time that the merger took place? Has it fare any better with 5G?

 

[dampfnudel]

So my iPhone has a strong enough transmitter to send a signal up to satellites?

Or more likely your next iPhone does.

 

[SenorWhyMe]

I’m intrigued as you actually are the first person who I have come across that ranks Sprint the best. For reference my area was too remote at the time when I considered moving to Sprint from AT&T.

Just curious, did the speed and coverage in your area start degrading around the same time that the merger took place? Has it fare any better with 5G?

a after the merger, i was forced to get a t-mobile chip after degredation to the towers for sprint users, my area went from 3 to 4 bars to 1 bar; then suddenly we had multiple outages, internet speed dropped on lte , and I was told from the local sprint store that they got rid of some bands and switched to t-mobile users so for a good year sprint users had bad quality internet in my area; after the switch by giving my family and I t-mobile chips the internet quality stayed the same even now with 5gUC on my iphone 13 pro max, I could have 4 bars and still get slow speeds on a short youtube video at 240p speed test I get was 2-9mbps speedtest with private relay off and funny enough if I had private relay on I would get faster speeds , they still haven’t fixed **** in my area ; and they got rid of 2 4g towers in my area so when I go further out where there is no 5g i’m literally back to roaming off of other towers where suddenly I get fast internet speed on lte than I do full bars 5gUC, I’m done with T-mobile/Sprint I have technically been with Sprint since 1995 and had a work phone also that I used with At&t 2004-2008 , and verizon 2009-2015 . Sprint always worked for me never had outages never charged me random extra and since I was a long time user they always showed some respect at the store when I had questions; but now that it is t-mobile they no longer see me as a long time sprint user told me to change chips and told me if i want to fully be on t-mobile my bill will go up and plans will be changed. I’m paying 5 lines unlimited data for $185 sharp, They estimated if I fully go into t-mobile I would get same 5 lines unlimited but at 306$ a month. so for now i’m stuck I need to find a different company. Occasionally i’m tempted to just go full out xfinity since they use verizon towers and i pay for internet and phone only too

 

[Devin Breeding]

If Elon Musk is involved then I won’t get my hopes up for whatever this service is.

PayPal, Tesla, American Rockets servicing the ISS for the first time since the space shuttle shut down. Where exactly are you dissapointed?

May be a bit too optimistic with goals at times but he has lead his teams to some great things.