To ensure you can shoot off a text from anywhere in the world, telecoms are looking to the skies (literally) for answers.
Driving the news: SpaceX has successfully launched its first set of Starlink satellites that will provide cell service from space, reports Reuters, a milestone for a joint project among several global telecom giants, including Canada’s Rogers.
- In addition to partnering with Rogers in Canada and T-Mobile in the U.S., SpaceX has joined forces with telecoms in Japan, Peru, Chile, Australia, Switzerland, and New Zealand.
- The set of six satellites will operate like a cell tower in space, providing users with the ability to text in remote areas without service, and will expand to voice and data.
Catch up: Just last month, Rogers launched its own satellite-mobile program with Lynk Global to provide cell service to all the nooks and crannies of Canada’s vast wilderness.
Why it matters: Because of its size and terrain, Canada is uniquely susceptible to cellular dead zones. Reliable satellite phone and data services would cut Canada’s reliance on cell infrastructure, and could help improve service for locals and first responders.
- In Nova Scotia, just under 5% of civic addresses and over 1,000 km of major roads don’t have cell service.
- During the province’s flood response in 2023, emergency alerts couldn’t reach residents in the same remote areas where four people were killed by the flooding.
Bottom line: SpaceX owner Elon Musk warned that while the satellite-mobile tech is a solution for dead zones, it can’t muster up the same speed and capacity as existing cellular networks yet. In other words, good old-fashioned cell towers are still necessary for the time being.—LA