T-Mobile Customers Will Get Starlink Satellite Internet Directly On Their Mobiles First And Others Later,

[wilsonhold]

Providing internet has been revenue generator for all the cruise lines and is pricey. Interesting, based on recent news articles, it may no longer be required sometime soon. 

[Mike Senior]

Let's not get too carried away, some pretty hefty caveats: https://www.mobileeurope.co.uk/starlink-and-t-mobile-us-agree-exclusive-direct-to-device-deal/

[shof515]

it seems to be only for text messages, no calls no data.

 

i wonder if this will work on other carriers that run off the tmobile network like mint mobile 

[wilsonhold]

I am not sure if it will be available worldwide initially but it is encouraging to me that they have confidence in the technology and are in the early implementation phase.
 

According to the article published SpaceX initial rollout in usa and some additional places. They will  roll out texting services with the help of the satellites by the end of 2024, followed by voice calls, data, and internet-of-things (IoT) services in 2025.

 

I am on booked on a Ncl 21 day Panama cruise  and Ncl wants 589.79 per device for their premium wi-fi. It would be nice for us to an cheaper alternative. We shall see.

Adding url

 

https://www.benzinga.com/news/24/09/40673148/t-mobile-customers-will-get-starlink-satellite-internet-directly-on-their-mobiles-first-and-others-o

 

Edited September 3 by wilsonhold

[Markanddonna]

I read this will first be offered to TMobile customers. Love TMobile anyway because it is so much easier and cheaper than the others for those who frequently travel outside the country. 

[graphicguy]

1 hour ago, Markanddonna said:

I read this will first be offered to TMobile customers. Love TMobile anyway because it is so much easier and cheaper than the others for those who frequently travel outside the country. 

Where I find this helpful would be when docked at a port T-Mobile works with.

 

On board, I can't see ANY of the cruise lines giving up on the internet connectivity revenue stream.  So, wouldn't plan on seeing t-Mobile offering at sea internet while sailing on any ships.  At ports?  Different story.

 

I've found Starlink on NCL to be quite good since they've adapted it on most of their ships.

Edited September 3 by graphicguy

[wilsonhold]

5 hours ago, graphicguy said:

 

 

On board, I can't see ANY of the cruise lines giving up on the internet connectivity revenue stream.  So, wouldn't plan on seeing t-Mobile offering at sea internet while sailing on any ships.  At ports?  Different story.

Today  when near land you  see people text or even talk without using wifi. Of course. this may generate roaming charges, but the cruise lines do not block it.

 

As i believe it would work ,  you would simply connect to the mobile network  as you would normally would do on land, that would use the Spacex infrastructure as an available roaming network.

 

It sounds like we likely will know more in a year.

 

But i maintain some optimism.

 

 

[mistertomatoe]

As I understand it, they launched the satellites for this starting in Jan. They're basically cell towers in space so your phone connects to it directly without any additional equipment. Pretty cool.. so how's it going to work on a cruise ship? You go off airplane mode and connect to what?  The ship's expensive cellular at sea? If you already have wifi Internet there's no need for this service. Given it's only T-Mobile people at first I doubt the cruise lines will do anything differently to accommodate this so expect it to not work seamlessly for a while unless T-Mobile can have something like text only SpaceX mode with whatever wifi connection you have.

 

Of course by the time it becomes useful (i.e. with fast data) it'll probably cost a ton extra money. There's only SpaceX and they have all the pricing power. All part of his master plan.

[wilsonhold]

As I understand it, the intention of the SpaceX technology is to provide (affordable) connectivity to areas that has currently has no access on a ongoing basis.

 

Think back- When GPS technology was first developed, no one considered how rampant it would be used by our many portable devices over a few short decades. My thoughts are SpaceX will have a similar impact.

 

The good news is IF the target date of its texting support is really achieved by the end of the year as published, we will very soon learn info on its mechanics, and initial pricing details over the next couple months.

 

My personal guess there would no additional fee for text support on t mobile ( after all if you have connectivity,  you get it for free anyway).

 

And will the technology be developed to be turned on and off on an as needed basis. Maybe in airplane mode, but otherwise , i find it unlikely. 

 

 

[graphicguy]

10 hours ago, wilsonhold said:

Today  when near land you  see people text or even talk without using wifi. Of course. this may generate roaming charges, but the cruise lines do not block it.

 

As i believe it would work ,  you would simply connect to the mobile network  as you would normally would do on land, that would use the Spacex infrastructure as an available roaming network.

 

It sounds like we likely will know more in a year.

 

But i maintain some optimism.

 

 

If you turn off WiFi on your phone, you would be using whatever data network is available.  No cruise line can affect that.  You can do that now.  

 

I know I always check my cellular signal when cruising if I'm sailing to an area I know T-Mobile offers free service.  Once I get close to the shoreline, I turn my data signal back on and use it for voice and data.  

 

You won't get signals while away from the shore line, though.  But, I do use ship's purchased WiFi for data and VoIP phone calls and not incur roaming charges.

 

 

 

 

[mking8288]

FWIW, ya all are going to need to invest = spend $$$ to upgrade or trade-in w contract subsidy to get newer phones w the transceiver radio chips to take advantage of this messaging option, free for the 1st year only, apparently. 

 

 

Google Fi/T-Mo users a/k/a Station Zebra cruising w Starlink now.

 

 

[erisajd]

Consider for a moment that cruise ships are made of steel [basically a fourier box] and it is virtually impossible to get a cell signal inside the ship - and like GPS - the Starlink signals are low power and are not going to work inside a cabin, inside the vessel, or anyplace there might be interference with the frequency band. . . 

 

 

[BirdTravels]

On 9/3/2024 at 11:03 PM, mistertomatoe said:

As I understand it, they launched the satellites for this starting in Jan. They're basically cell towers in space so your phone connects to it directly without any additional equipment. Pretty cool.. so how's it going to work on a cruise ship? You go off airplane mode and connect to what?  The ship's expensive cellular at sea? If you already have wifi Internet there's no need for this service. Given it's only T-Mobile people at first I doubt the cruise lines will do anything differently to accommodate this so expect it to not work seamlessly for a while unless T-Mobile can have something like text only SpaceX mode with whatever wifi connection you have.

 

Of course by the time it becomes useful (i.e. with fast data) it'll probably cost a ton extra money. There's only SpaceX and they have all the pricing power. All part of his master plan.

It is cool if you want to spend your cruise up on the top deck to have visibility to the satellite. Otherwise useless in a lot of places on the ship. 

[mistertomatoe]

15 hours ago, BirdTravels said:

It is cool if you want to spend your cruise up on the top deck to have visibility to the satellite. Otherwise useless in a lot of places on the ship. 

 

It sounded like a cell tower in space so it would work the same as it does with a tower on land. No line of site needed so better than a sat phone or the latest iPhones with satellite capabilities.