T-Mobile will partner with Elon Musk’s SpaceX and use the company’s Starlink satellites to provide mobile networks for cellphone users in remote areas, both companies announced at an event on Thursday.
SpaceX has a green light from the FCC to launch a network of thousands of satellites blanketing the globe with broadband. And you won’t have too long to wait — on a cosmic scale, anyway. Part of the agreement is that SpaceX launch half of its proposed satellites within six years.
“To bridge America’s digital divide, we’ll have to use innovative technologies,” FCC Chairman Ajit Pai said today. Pai also said the proposal would increase competition among internet service providers, and he encouraged the agency’s commissioners to approve an application from SpaceX to begin the project.
Elon Musk’s rocket company has been working on getting satellite broadband off the ground for years. A Falcon 9 is set to launch the first test Saturday.
