Mobile industry charts course to smartphone satellite broadband
(2025/08/06)
- Reference: 1754469008
- News link: https://www.theregister.co.uk/2025/08/06/mobile_satellite_broadband_roadmap/
- Source link:
Satellite comms services to standard phones are officially here, but customers expecting a full voice and data experience may have to wait a while longer and make sure their current devices meet the right level of telecoms standard.
T-Mobile announced this month that its T-Satellite service is now [1]out of beta and available to users in most outdoor areas in the US, making it one of the first networks to have a commercial product that can reach subscribers who are out of range of a cell tower using their standard handset.
It was beaten to first place by New Zealand's [2]One NZ , which started offering a satellite texting service late last year, and claimed in July to have delivered 2 million text messages this way.
[3]
Like One NZ, T-Mobile has a deal with satellite biz Starlink, which was [4]granted a license to deliver services using spectrum allocated to T-Mobile in areas not covered by the telco's cell towers, effectively making Starlink a kind of network roaming service. This arrangement is also known as supplementary coverage from space (SCS).
[5]
[6]
For now, this is limited to text messages and location information. It is known to be compatible with [7]about 60 smartphone models – most of which are sold by Samsung, Motorola, or Google.
At least one analyst has already [8]tried out T-Mobile's satellite service and reports that it worked seamlessly on a Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra when he was moving in and out of cell tower coverage, and also didn't require an unobstructed view of the sky, working even indoors.
[9]
We should point out, of course, that Apple popularized satellite messaging with the [10]Emergency SOS feature it debuted with the iPhone 14 in 2022. This uses special hardware to link to a constellation of orbiting relays operated by [11]Globalstar , while T-Mobile's service should, in theory, work with any smartphone that is compliant with Release 17 of the [12]3GPP standards .
The latter supports non-terrestrial networks (NTN) for narrowband applications (up to 400 Kbps), which should be ample to enable voice calls as well as messaging. But users will soon expect to be able to use their mobile device for the full spectrum of applications that they currently enjoy via terrestrial networks.
Sadly, it seems that anyone expecting broadband NTN services greater than 10 Mbps is going to have to wait for devices compliant with 3GPP Release 18 and for the satellite operators to upgrade their networks with newer hardware.
[13]
"The types of use cases being offered for now are narrowband services, things like texting or emergency SOS," said Luke Pearce, principal analyst at research biz CCS Insight.
"Using this approach, wideband speed of up to 10 Mbps is technically possible, but the barriers here are about scaling satellite coverage, as these are brand new Low Earth Orbit (LEO) constellations," he added.
Release 18, which was finalized last year, "aims to bring truly available broadband by satellites, enabling rich data services and higher throughput," Pearce said. "However, the rollout of upgraded LEO satellite infrastructure is necessary, as well as phased array and antenna miniaturization, so this is a medium-term opportunity."
So when might that be? Sometime around 2030, according to CCS.
"In terms of timeline, we're already in the narrowband era of satellite-directed devices today, with services launched last year, but around 2027 is when we might expect to see the first wave of wideband satellite connectivity," Pearce said.
Wideband requires more capable infrastructure, possibly including upgraded LEO constellations, plus ground-based networking enhancements and mass adoption of compatible chipsets and devices.
"Finally, looking ahead to 2030, is when we anticipate the arrival of broadband direct-to-device satellite services. And this will mark the point where truly high data rate satellite links are able to reach smartphones, laptops and vehicles," he added.
[14]T-Mobile's satellite service lifts off, and it's open season on rivals
[15]Satellite phone tech coming to your mobe this year – but who pays for it?
[16]UK satellite smartphone services could get green light this year
[17]Telco to open lab to test cell network interoperability with satellites
The first example of Release 18-compliant hardware is [18]Qualcomm's X85 modem chipset silicon, introduced in March, which is expected to appear in devices coming to market later this year or next.
Professor Rob Maunder, founder & CTO of wireless technology biz AccelerComm, said that this step-by-step evolution of satellite phone support is due to the technical complexity of making it all work.
"Moving from the ground into space presents a number of different challenges," he said. "The satellites are at high altitudes, and this presents challenges in terms of the link delay, the link loss, causing throughput challenges. The beams that the satellites are casting onto the surface of the Earth are very large and encompass a high number of user devices, creating a capacity challenge. These satellites are travelling at high speed across the sky, so this creates a Doppler challenge. The satellites are moving out of view frequently, and new satellites are coming into view, which means that there's a lot of handovers for user devices to navigate."
To address all these difficulties, 3GPP adopted a phased approach, rather than trying to solve all the problems in a single release. This started with initial NTN support in Release 17, through Release 18, and into Release 19, which is in development.
One of the changes in Release 19 will be to move the 5G base station functions from the ground station into the satellite, bringing it closer to the user devices and reducing the latency, which improves quality of service, Maunder said.
However, a common thread has been backward compatibility, so that newer satellites and infrastructure will continue to support handsets built around Release 17 specifications.
Meanwhile, other satellite operators are following Starlink's lead, such as AST SpaceMobile, which has signed up Vodafone to offer a [19]commercial direct-to-phone satellite service in Europe , due to start sometime this year.
Britain's telecoms regulator, Ofcom, has also been consulting on [20]authorizing satellite-to-smartphone services in the UK , which could see services such as Vodafone's become available here in the near future.
However, Britain is not really the ideal market, as it is a densely populated region, largely well-served by terrestrial network coverage (although those living in rural areas may dispute this).
A survey by CCS Insight also found that only half of people in the UK would be prepared to pay extra for satellite connectivity. Perhaps people might change their minds if it means the end of coverage not-spots and they can watch their TikTok dance videos from anywhere. ®
Get our [21]Tech Resources
[1] https://www.theregister.com/2025/07/24/tmobile_satellite_service/
[2] https://one.nz/
[3] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_onprem/networks&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=2&c=2aJMnphQsUo37S8glt1tqOAAAANE&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D2%26raptor%3Dcondor%26pos%3Dtop%26test%3D0
[4] https://www.theregister.com/2024/11/27/starlink_fcc_direct_to_cell/
[5] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_onprem/networks&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44aJMnphQsUo37S8glt1tqOAAAANE&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[6] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_onprem/networks&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=3&c=33aJMnphQsUo37S8glt1tqOAAAANE&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D3%26raptor%3Deagle%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[7] https://www.t-mobile.com/support/coverage/satellite-support
[8] https://moorinsightsstrategy.com/how-good-is-cellular-satellite-service-now-i-went-camping-to-find-out/
[9] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_onprem/networks&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44aJMnphQsUo37S8glt1tqOAAAANE&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[10] https://www.theregister.com/2022/09/07/apple_iphone_watch_launch/
[11] https://www.globalstar.com/en-us
[12] https://www.3gpp.org/about-us/introducing-3gpp
[13] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_onprem/networks&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=3&c=33aJMnphQsUo37S8glt1tqOAAAANE&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D3%26raptor%3Deagle%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[14] https://www.theregister.com/2025/07/24/tmobile_satellite_service/
[15] https://www.theregister.com/2025/04/10/satellite_phone_service/
[16] https://www.theregister.com/2025/03/26/ofcom_could_authorize_uk_satellite/
[17] https://www.theregister.com/2025/02/19/vodafone_satellite_lab_spain/
[18] https://www.qualcomm.com/products/technology/modems/qualcomm-x85-5g-modem-rf
[19] https://www.theregister.com/2025/01/30/vodafone_aims_to_offer_satellitetophone/
[20] https://www.theregister.com/2025/03/26/ofcom_could_authorize_uk_satellite/
[21] https://whitepapers.theregister.com/
T-Mobile announced this month that its T-Satellite service is now [1]out of beta and available to users in most outdoor areas in the US, making it one of the first networks to have a commercial product that can reach subscribers who are out of range of a cell tower using their standard handset.
It was beaten to first place by New Zealand's [2]One NZ , which started offering a satellite texting service late last year, and claimed in July to have delivered 2 million text messages this way.
[3]
Like One NZ, T-Mobile has a deal with satellite biz Starlink, which was [4]granted a license to deliver services using spectrum allocated to T-Mobile in areas not covered by the telco's cell towers, effectively making Starlink a kind of network roaming service. This arrangement is also known as supplementary coverage from space (SCS).
[5]
[6]
For now, this is limited to text messages and location information. It is known to be compatible with [7]about 60 smartphone models – most of which are sold by Samsung, Motorola, or Google.
At least one analyst has already [8]tried out T-Mobile's satellite service and reports that it worked seamlessly on a Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra when he was moving in and out of cell tower coverage, and also didn't require an unobstructed view of the sky, working even indoors.
[9]
We should point out, of course, that Apple popularized satellite messaging with the [10]Emergency SOS feature it debuted with the iPhone 14 in 2022. This uses special hardware to link to a constellation of orbiting relays operated by [11]Globalstar , while T-Mobile's service should, in theory, work with any smartphone that is compliant with Release 17 of the [12]3GPP standards .
The latter supports non-terrestrial networks (NTN) for narrowband applications (up to 400 Kbps), which should be ample to enable voice calls as well as messaging. But users will soon expect to be able to use their mobile device for the full spectrum of applications that they currently enjoy via terrestrial networks.
Sadly, it seems that anyone expecting broadband NTN services greater than 10 Mbps is going to have to wait for devices compliant with 3GPP Release 18 and for the satellite operators to upgrade their networks with newer hardware.
[13]
"The types of use cases being offered for now are narrowband services, things like texting or emergency SOS," said Luke Pearce, principal analyst at research biz CCS Insight.
"Using this approach, wideband speed of up to 10 Mbps is technically possible, but the barriers here are about scaling satellite coverage, as these are brand new Low Earth Orbit (LEO) constellations," he added.
Release 18, which was finalized last year, "aims to bring truly available broadband by satellites, enabling rich data services and higher throughput," Pearce said. "However, the rollout of upgraded LEO satellite infrastructure is necessary, as well as phased array and antenna miniaturization, so this is a medium-term opportunity."
So when might that be? Sometime around 2030, according to CCS.
"In terms of timeline, we're already in the narrowband era of satellite-directed devices today, with services launched last year, but around 2027 is when we might expect to see the first wave of wideband satellite connectivity," Pearce said.
Wideband requires more capable infrastructure, possibly including upgraded LEO constellations, plus ground-based networking enhancements and mass adoption of compatible chipsets and devices.
"Finally, looking ahead to 2030, is when we anticipate the arrival of broadband direct-to-device satellite services. And this will mark the point where truly high data rate satellite links are able to reach smartphones, laptops and vehicles," he added.
[14]T-Mobile's satellite service lifts off, and it's open season on rivals
[15]Satellite phone tech coming to your mobe this year – but who pays for it?
[16]UK satellite smartphone services could get green light this year
[17]Telco to open lab to test cell network interoperability with satellites
The first example of Release 18-compliant hardware is [18]Qualcomm's X85 modem chipset silicon, introduced in March, which is expected to appear in devices coming to market later this year or next.
Professor Rob Maunder, founder & CTO of wireless technology biz AccelerComm, said that this step-by-step evolution of satellite phone support is due to the technical complexity of making it all work.
"Moving from the ground into space presents a number of different challenges," he said. "The satellites are at high altitudes, and this presents challenges in terms of the link delay, the link loss, causing throughput challenges. The beams that the satellites are casting onto the surface of the Earth are very large and encompass a high number of user devices, creating a capacity challenge. These satellites are travelling at high speed across the sky, so this creates a Doppler challenge. The satellites are moving out of view frequently, and new satellites are coming into view, which means that there's a lot of handovers for user devices to navigate."
To address all these difficulties, 3GPP adopted a phased approach, rather than trying to solve all the problems in a single release. This started with initial NTN support in Release 17, through Release 18, and into Release 19, which is in development.
One of the changes in Release 19 will be to move the 5G base station functions from the ground station into the satellite, bringing it closer to the user devices and reducing the latency, which improves quality of service, Maunder said.
However, a common thread has been backward compatibility, so that newer satellites and infrastructure will continue to support handsets built around Release 17 specifications.
Meanwhile, other satellite operators are following Starlink's lead, such as AST SpaceMobile, which has signed up Vodafone to offer a [19]commercial direct-to-phone satellite service in Europe , due to start sometime this year.
Britain's telecoms regulator, Ofcom, has also been consulting on [20]authorizing satellite-to-smartphone services in the UK , which could see services such as Vodafone's become available here in the near future.
However, Britain is not really the ideal market, as it is a densely populated region, largely well-served by terrestrial network coverage (although those living in rural areas may dispute this).
A survey by CCS Insight also found that only half of people in the UK would be prepared to pay extra for satellite connectivity. Perhaps people might change their minds if it means the end of coverage not-spots and they can watch their TikTok dance videos from anywhere. ®
Get our [21]Tech Resources
[1] https://www.theregister.com/2025/07/24/tmobile_satellite_service/
[2] https://one.nz/
[3] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_onprem/networks&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=2&c=2aJMnphQsUo37S8glt1tqOAAAANE&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D2%26raptor%3Dcondor%26pos%3Dtop%26test%3D0
[4] https://www.theregister.com/2024/11/27/starlink_fcc_direct_to_cell/
[5] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_onprem/networks&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44aJMnphQsUo37S8glt1tqOAAAANE&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[6] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_onprem/networks&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=3&c=33aJMnphQsUo37S8glt1tqOAAAANE&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D3%26raptor%3Deagle%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[7] https://www.t-mobile.com/support/coverage/satellite-support
[8] https://moorinsightsstrategy.com/how-good-is-cellular-satellite-service-now-i-went-camping-to-find-out/
[9] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_onprem/networks&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44aJMnphQsUo37S8glt1tqOAAAANE&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[10] https://www.theregister.com/2022/09/07/apple_iphone_watch_launch/
[11] https://www.globalstar.com/en-us
[12] https://www.3gpp.org/about-us/introducing-3gpp
[13] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_onprem/networks&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=3&c=33aJMnphQsUo37S8glt1tqOAAAANE&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D3%26raptor%3Deagle%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[14] https://www.theregister.com/2025/07/24/tmobile_satellite_service/
[15] https://www.theregister.com/2025/04/10/satellite_phone_service/
[16] https://www.theregister.com/2025/03/26/ofcom_could_authorize_uk_satellite/
[17] https://www.theregister.com/2025/02/19/vodafone_satellite_lab_spain/
[18] https://www.qualcomm.com/products/technology/modems/qualcomm-x85-5g-modem-rf
[19] https://www.theregister.com/2025/01/30/vodafone_aims_to_offer_satellitetophone/
[20] https://www.theregister.com/2025/03/26/ofcom_could_authorize_uk_satellite/
[21] https://whitepapers.theregister.com/