Starlink wants to end mobile black spots, but are Australian telcos interested?

About a week ago, Elon Musk's satellite internet venture Starlink and US telco T-Mobile announced a partnership to eliminate mobile dead zones.

When a mobile network isn't available, T-Mobile customers will be able to connect to the next generation of Starlink satellites to get a basic level of service. The satellites will broadcast using mobile spectrum, which means users will be able to use their existing phones. No special equipment is required.

This should allow mobile phones to get basic connectivity in a black spot, provided they have a clear view of the sky. Initially, this will be very barebones. Each satellite will only have enough bandwidth to enable texting, MMS, and some messaging apps. Users won't suddenly be able to binge on Netflix in the middle of nowhere. Going forward, Starlink plans to look at adding voice and data.

While Starlink isn't planning to even launch a beta service in the US until the end of next year, it has put out an open invite to telcos around the world to collaborate on the venture.

Given Australia's sheer geographic size, satellite-driven mobile connectivity seems like a natural fit for addressing black spots - especially given there are so many parts of the nation where it would make zero fiscal sense to erect a tower.

So far, Telstra, Optus, and TPG haven't expressed a firm desire to partner with Starlink, but none of them has ruled it out.

Telstra may have signed a 16.5-year deal with satellite provider Viasat to build and manage ground infrastructure for its upcoming constellation, but a Telstra spokesperson told us this doesn't prevent it from hypothetically partnering with Starlink.

"Telstra is open to investigating emerging technologies which are beneficial to our network and for providing connectivity to regional Australia," said the spokesperson. "We are in discussions with many satellite providers, our deal with Viasat does not prevent this. "

"We are committed to improving mobile and fixed connectivity to regional Australia and have this in mind when engaging with a number of satellite providers. We see that partnerships with multiple satellite providers are required as no one provider alone can solve for all the challenges in providing connectivity to regional Australia."

An Optus spokesperson said the telco constantly evaluates potential partnerships, and that "satellites will continue to play a major role in keeping Australians connected".

"At this time Optus doesn’t have any partnerships in place with Starlink," said the Optus spokesperson. "However, Optus is constantly evaluating partnership opportunities that will provide better opportunities to keep Australians and Australian businesses connected."

Optus is already using satellite for mobile connectivity at least 49 sites in remote areas. This is a bit different to Starlink's approach, however. Instead of a phone connecting directly to a satellite, Optus' cells connect to the satellite, and then broadcast a 4G signal within a 1km radius.

Optus has also been trialling the use of satellite to allow users to make and receive phone calls in the same they would over a standard copper line.

A TPG spokesperson provided similar commentary.

"We are always exploring ways to provide better coverage and service to customers but at the moment, satellite is more of a complementary solution to the terrestrial coverage provided by our 4G and 5G networks," said the spokesperson.

While Starlink mobile connectivity is still an unknown for Australia, rumours have suggested that Apple plans to add satellite connectivity to iPhone for emergency messaging when a user has no cellular connectivity. While it's possible we'll see it this week with the iPhone 14 - the invite features space imagery - the same murmurs were floating around ahead of the iPhone 13 launch. At least it won't take long to find out.

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