Starlink launches direct satellite-to-phone service in the UK

Virgin Media O2 has signed a partnership with Elon Musk’s Starlink, marking the satellite company’s first agreement with a British mobile carrier to deliver connectivity straight to handsets.

The mobile and internet company will roll out a new add-on option for subscribers next year during the first six months. Pricing details have not been revealed yet. The add-on, which will go by the name “O2 Satellite,” aims to give people basic text messaging capabilities when they find themselves in remote locations across Britain where regular cell towers can’t reach.

Down the line, the technology could expand to handle phone conversations and let people use apps that need lots of data, like TikTok, even when they’re out hiking in the countryside or on a boat at sea. That’s according to Lutz Schüler, who runs the company as chief executive officer.

The partnership represents one of the earliest times Starlink has brought its phone-to-satellite technology to European consumers. Virgin Media O2 says the deal will push its network reach from 88% of Britain up to 95%.

No special equipment required as regular phone does the work

Direct-to-device service works differently than what most people know Starlink for. The company’s existing internet service requires customers to buy special equipment that talks to Musk’s satellites flying in low orbit around Earth to get WiFi at home. The phone service cuts out that extra hardware. Satellites will talk straight to regular mobile phones without any additional gear needed.

For Virgin Media O2, teaming up with Starlink serves two purposes. It fills in coverage gaps and helps rebuild buzz around the O2 name, which has lost some of its shine as a creative mobile company in recent times. The firm is also putting more money into its systems, picking up radio frequencies from other companies and a government sale, and bringing real 5G technology, called 5G standalone, to people across the country.

“We are trying to do innovation for our customers,” Schüler said as mentioned in a Bloomberg report. He called the satellite service the “logical extension” of what the company has been doing lately to improve networks and work with partners for better connections.

The news puts Virgin Media O2 in direct competition with Vodafone Group Plc, which has been working with an American company called AST SpaceMobile Inc. for several years on similar technology. Vodafone’s boss said earlier this year their service would launch across their European operations next year.

Starlink’s market position proves decisive

Schüler explained they picked Starlink because the company already has more than 600 satellites circling Earth in low orbit, which makes them the “market leader.” American carrier T-Mobile US Inc. made a similar deal with Starlink earlier this year, bringing satellite connectivity to millions of customers across the United States.

The satellite connectivity race is heating up globally, with multiple companies competing to provide coverage in areas traditionally unreachable by cell towers. European telecoms are especially eager to develop alternatives to Starlink’s dominance in the satellite internet market.