T-Mobile completes Starlink satellite emergency alert test

T-Mobile has announced that it has successfully completed the wireless emergency alert (WEA) test via Starlink satellite. Under this activity, the telecom service provider has sent and received WEA in real-time.

On September 5, at 5:13 PM PT, T-Mobile broadcasted a test alert for a hypothetical evacuation notice. It was sent 217 miles into space to more than 175 Direct to Cell Starlink satellites, which spread the alert to the affected area and received by T-Mobile smartphones.

Direct to Cell satellites are designed and developed by SpaceX to provide efficient connectivity over Starlink terminal satellites. DTC provides access to the internet and communication without any hardware accessory or special device.

In the US, SpaceX has partnered with T-Mobile to provide DTC-based services. However, its services are currently under testing and scheduled to launch later this year.

T-Mobile Starlink emergency alert (Source – T-Mobile)

This new achievement will allow immediate access to emergency alerts to more than half a million square miles of lightly populated, mountainous, or uninhabitable land across the US. The alert message could be delivered within a few seconds to the ground users.

T-Mobile shared an instance of how wireless emergency alerts can save lives.

In 2018, a campfire in Northern California burned more than 150,000 acres, forced 52,000 to evacuate from their houses, and destroyed more than 19,000 structures. It also caused 86 people to lose their lives.

In such scenarios, people living and working in lightly populated areas with major elevation changes had no access to such alerts due to wireless service unavailability.

The fire also eliminated 17 cell towers on day one and 66 in two weeks, which turned into a major problem for responders and people to connect with their loved ones.

SpaceX is continuously sending new DTC satellites to improve connectivity and expand smartphones to satellite networks. With sufficient satellites in orbit, T-Mobile plans to rollout its services as a beta for testers before commercial launch.

(source)