Starlink direct-to cell service will be able to use higher power on March 7, 2025. This will allow for faster and more reliable service. This power level will allow for 4G/5G speed. The maximum speed may require an extra antenna for existing phones. Elon Musk said that the direct satellite to phone service could be 10% faster than the Starlink broadband satellite dish. Elon knew that power and spectrum were increasing.
Starlink Satellites can provide direct-to-cell service on 500 satellites. Starlink Satellites can use Direct to Cell at higher powers under the FCC’s permit.
Starlink’s agreements include 8 MNOs in the world, which represent approximately 261 millions subscribers. However, this is a potential audience rather than actual users. Starlink’s Direct to Cell services are available through a number of mobile carriers around the world. T-Mobile, Rogers and One NZ are confirmed partners. Optus and KDDI in Australia and Japan have also been announced. There are also other companies involved in the trial and talks about discussions with Apple.
The commercial launch is expected to be in mid-2025.
SpaceX plans to launch voice and data in 2025. The exact rollout date will depend on the regulatory approvals and satellite deployment. T-Mobile’s roadmap suggests that these features would follow after texting, and likely start in late 2025 or mid-to-late 2020. Rogers, Optus and other partners have also echoed the timeline and are targeting data and voice in 2025.
The FCC authorized an increase of 770% in power. The power flux density is -110.6 decibels/meter square/megahertz. It was previously -120 decibels/meter square/megahertz.
Starlink does not currently offer internet or voice, but it soon will. It will also be faster.
Starlink’s new satellites are located at a lower altitude (300 km), which improves latency, communication speed and the quality of communications.
Understand the FCC Authorization and Improvements
Starlink has been authorized by the FCC to transmit direct-to cell communication signals at a power density (PFD), which is -110.6dBW/m2/MHz. This represents an improvement of 9.4dB over its previous limitation. PFD is a technical term that measures signal strength per unit of area and per unit bandwidth. Because PFDs are measured in negative decibels (-), a “9.4dB improvement”, means that the limit is now higher. The previous value was -120dBW/m2/MHz, which is a standard baseline for satellite regulations. However, the new limit of -110.6dBW/m2/MHz reflects the increase in power (-120+9.4=-110.6). Higher PFD can increase signal strength and improve coverage, data rates, and reliability.
Starlink is also authorized to work at lower altitudes. Satellites that are closer to Earth can reduce the signal delay (latency), and deliver stronger signals because of less distance related signal loss. This, along with an increase in PFD, will allow for improved performance of direct-to cell services.
Does this enable 5G speeds?
The average download speed of terrestrial 5G networks is around 50-500Mbps. This depends on network congestion, spectrum, and other factors. Satellite-based direct to cell services, however, face unique challenges, including longer distances, shifting satellites and shared spectrum, which make it difficult for terrestrial 5G speeds.
Starlink, in collaboration with T-Mobile’s Direct-to-Cell service, is aiming to offer mobile connectivity in places that lack terrestrial coverage. Text messaging will be available in 2024. Voice and data services are expected to follow in 2025. Increased PFDs and lower orbits will improve signal quality and decrease latency. Both are essential for higher data rates. Starlink broadband (not directly-to cell) delivers between 25 and 220 Mbps with the majority of users surpassing 100 Mbps. However, direct-tocell may differ because it is geared towards mobile devices.
SpaceX could use higher power for performance by supporting modulation schemes such as 64-QAM and beyond. This would allow it to increase data transmission. Starlink uses advanced phased-array antennas to target signals precisely at mobile devices. This improves efficiency. Although exact data rates are not specified, Starlink’s high-power, low-latency design and the 500 satellites that have already been equipped with it (with more planned) indicate a desire to achieve competitive mobile data speeds.
The system could provide high-speed data for applications such as streaming and browsing. Initial speeds are likely to be similar to 4G LTE (10s to 100s Mbps), or the mid-tier of 5G (50 to 100 Mbps), but they could increase to 5G speeds of hundreds of Mbps as the technology matures.
Starlink utilizes the PCS G Block (i.e. 5 MHz in each direction for direct-to cell services). A 5 MHz LTE channel with 64-QAM can reach a peak of 37.5Mbps, however satellite systems have a lower spectral performance due to their distance and movement.
This 9.4dB increase in PFD roughly corresponds to an 8.7-fold signal boost (since 10(9.4/10=8.7)), allowing for higher data rates and more reliable connections. Low orbits (340-550km vs. high orbits) can reduce the latency from 600+ms to just 20-30ms. This will improve real-time performance. Starlink has a broadband latency of 20-40ms. Direct-to-cell performance could also be comparable.
These factors could result in initial data speeds ranging from 10-50Mbps per user, and possibly reaching 100Mbps or even more in areas with low density but strong signals. With more satellites (7500 in total) and better optimization, the speeds may improve over time. They could even reach hundreds of Mbps under ideal conditions.
The number of users with the 7500 version 3 satellites
The capacity of the 7500 direct-to cell satellites version 3 Starlink depends on its bandwidth, spectrum efficiency and beam technology. Each satellite uses multiple beams to cover different regions, and can reuse spectrum.
Starlink supports its broadband service with over 7500 satellites. This means that each satellite can support thousands of subscribers. Version 3 satellites are designed for higher throughput–potentially 10 times and could be about 500 GBps.
Consider that each satellite can support 100 beams. Each beam will serve 100 users with a data rate of 1 Mbps. It could mean 10,000 users simultaneously per satellite or 75 millions users spread across 7500 satellites. This number drops to only 7.5 millions users for higher speeds (10 Mbps). The usage varies – some users might only need text, while others may stream (high bandwidth), so capacity can fluctuate between the extremes.
Starlink’s global coverage, depending on data rates and user demand, could accommodate a billion people.
Brian Wang, a Futurist and Science Blogger with over 1,000,000 monthly readers is one of the most popular Futurists. Nextbigfuture.com, his blog is the #1 Science News Blog. The blog covers a wide range of disruptive technologies and trends, including Space, Robotics and Artificial Intelligence. It also includes Medicine, Antiaging Biotechnology and Nanotechnology.
He is known for his ability to identify cutting-edge technologies. He currently serves as a co-founder of a company and a fundraiser for early stage companies with high potential. He is Head of Research for Allocations for Deep Technology Investments and an Angel investor at Space Angels.
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