As fires continue to ravage the Los Angeles areaT-Mobile and SpaceX announced Thursday evening that they will activate Starlink coverage for those who need it.
“Today, T-Mobile and Starlink opened T-Mobile Starlink Direct-to-Cellular service in affected areas of Southern California to provide emergency alerts and wireless texting and enable texting 911,” the wireless carrier said. “Although SpaceX’s direct-to-cell transmission constellation has not been fully deployed, we are temporarily making this first test version available again to those who need it most.”
The operator says its network “held up” and also “restored about half of the sites affected by a commercial power outage.”
“As safety conditions permit, our teams are assessing affected sites in Altadena, Duarte, Calabasas, Malibu, Fillmore and Agoura Hills, and continue to deploy and refuel portable generators at sites until commercial electricity is restored.”
The Los Angeles fires are the latest deployment of the new satellite functionality to keep its users connected in the event of a natural disaster. It had already made it possible to offer this service in response to hurricanes Milton and Helene last year.
As was the case with the hurricanes, satellite texting will be limited to T-Mobile users with “supported phones.” However, wireless emergency alerts and evacuation notices can be sent via satellite to anyone in affected areas, regardless of their wireless carrier.
It’s worth noting once again that this is SMS, or traditional text messaging, and is done through your phone’s regular messaging app. It will not work with Internet messaging services or applications 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 later) and running iOS 18 can also send iMessages, regardless of carrier, via satellite in areas where they don’t have coverage thanks to Apple’s partnership with the satellite company Globalstar. T-Mobile says users of these iPhones will use Apple’s satellite services and not SpaceX’s Starlink.
Although it has used the service in emergency situations, the Los Angeles rollout comes shortly after T-Mobile and SpaceX announced they would begin beta testing of the service this year and open registration.
Watch this: Apple vs Google: Comparing Satellite Emergency Features
