T-Mobile, one of the largest wireless mobile carriers in the US has just announced its plans to offer network coverage across the dead zones going forward. The company is making this a reality by joining hands with the Elon Musk-owned SpaceX brand. This new collaboration between two of the world’s largest tech giants will redefine mobile communication by allowing connectivity across the remotest of locations on earth. Read on the developments here:
No More Dead Zones For Mobile Networks?
The modern generation of mobile communication is majorly driven by cell tower connections. But Elon Musk at an event hosted at his South Texas-based rocket facility announced his plans in association with T-Mobile to cut the requirements for cell towers in the future for mobile communications. A new initiative is underway that will make it possible for mobile phones to connect directly with satellites so that coverage is possible with no network zones on earth.
T-Mobile will be using Musk’s Space X-owned Starlink satellites to offer mobile connectivity across regions where it currently is impossible. Users will be able to send text messages and also use different messaging applications in such locations. Musk further clarified how both these brands plan to achieve this target of providing cellular networks in the dead zones using Starlink satellites cutting down on the ground towers.
For this, Space X is said to integrate bigger and larger-sized antennas with the second-generation Starlink satellites which will allow for better network reception with the satellite cellular connections. Musk has emphasized how the larger-sized antennas on the Starlink satellites will help with improving the satellite cellular connectivity that will further make it possible to achieve mobile communication across the no-network zones.
The antennas are said to be around 5 to 6 meters in height which will help with enhanced network reception. Also, users will not only get the provision to send or receive simple text messages in the current no-network zones but also multimedia messages (MMS). The possibilities will also open up for some of the messaging applications.
T-Mobile’s mid-band spectrum will be used by the new-generation Starlink satellites to create a new network for the dead zones or the areas with zero network coverage. Users will get an approximate speed of 2 to 4 Mbps with a specific coverage range across the dead zones.
