— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) August 31, 2024 In response to his post, Elon Musk wrote that Starlink's Direct to Cell satellite service is currently restricted to the USA. But after the first year, you will gain reliable connectivity for calls, texts, and data if you are in rural or remote locations. You should also expect emergency services. To be clear, that's happening in 2025 and it all depends on approval from each country’s government. Image: Starlink / X The company plans to expand globally and partner with one carrier per country and eventually extend all carriers. Frankly, it makes much more sense this way. With a large-scale project like this, you want to take your time and ensure everything goes smoothly. One carrier per country allows them to fix issues as they pop up and manage costs. What is a Direct to Cell service anyway? Direct to Cell capabilities is as it sounds. It lets your phone connect straight to satellites, skipping over the need for regular cell towers. You'll be able to text, call, or use data even when you're out in the middle of nowhere, or when the network's down during an emergency. In comparison, traditional cell towers create a network of coverage areas, or “cells”, that connect phones through a network of towers. Image: T-Mobile The setup works well in populated areas with lots of infrastructure. But when you're in remote or disaster-hit regions, you'll struggle to stay online. Sometimes, even with towers present, a high volume of users is overwhelming for the network, making it difficult to get a good signal. T-Mobile and Starlink first teamed up back in August 2022 to work on Direct to Cell service. But they were tight-lipped about the start date. In May 2024, they finally came clean about their plans. Today, we know that they've also made deals with operators like Rogers in Canada, Optus in Australia, and KDDI in Japan.