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Like fires continue to ravage the Los Angeles area, T-Mobile and Images of SpaceX announced Thursday night that it will turn on Starlink support for those who need it.
“Today T-Mobile and Starlink launched the T-Mobile Starlink Direct-to-Cellular service in affected areas of Southern California to provide wireless emergency notifications and SMS and support texting to 911,” the wireless carrier said. “Although SpaceX’s direct-to-cell constellation has not yet been fully deployed, we are also temporarily enabling early testing for those most in need.”
The carrier says its network has “remained strong” and has “restored approximately half of the areas affected by the power outage.”
“As conditions permit, our teams are assessing affected areas in Altadena, Duarte, Calabasas, Malibu, Fillmore and Agoura Hills, and will continue to install and fuel portable generators in the area until commercial power is restored.”
The Los Angeles Fire Department is the latest to deploy a new satellite image to help users communicate in the event of a natural disaster. In the past it supported the project in response Hurricane Milton and Helen last year.
As with the hurricane, satellite texting will be limited to T-Mobile users with “support phones.” Wireless emergency alerts and evacuation alerts, however, can be sent via satellite to anyone in the affected area regardless of wireless carrier.
It’s also worth noting that this is SMS, or traditional text messaging, and it’s done through your phone’s regular app. It doesn’t work with online messaging or apps like iMessage, WhatsApp or Facebook Messenger. T-Mobile tells CNET that the supported devices include “many” Android phones and iPhones older than the iPhone 14 series.
Apple users with an iPhone 14 (or later) running iOS 18 it can also send iMessages, regardless of carrier, over satellite in areas that do not have Learning thanks Apple’s partnership with satellite company Globalstar. T-Mobile says users of those iPhones will be using Apple’s satellites rather than SpaceX’s Starlink.
Although it used the service in emergencies, the deployment to Los Angeles comes shortly after T-Mobile and SpaceX announced that. they will start testing the beta service this year and opened the register.
Check this out: Apple vs. Google: Satellite Emergencies Compared
