Telstra to offer Starlink satellite-to-mobile services

It is set to be a pivotal year for satellite communications technology, with global operators in setup season ahead of launches and satellite rising up the agenda in enterprise plans, and in the first of what could be many similar moves, leading Australian telco Telstra has extended its relationship with SpaceX’s Starlink to bring satellite-to-mobile (direct-to-handset) text messaging to customers in Australia.

Telstra already boasts the largest and most reliable mobile network in Australia, covering 99.7% of the population over an area of three million square kilometres. Yet the operater noted that given the country’s vast landmass, there will always be large areas that mobile and fixed networks do not reach, and this is where satellite technology will play a complementary role to its existing networks.

The telco currently uses a mix of technologies to provide voice and broadband services in rural and remote areas of Australia, including nbn Fixed Wireless, its own mobile network, and older copper and radio networks.

The partnership with SpaceX’s Starlink is designed to enable Telstra to provide better coverage from coast to coast, especially for those in regional and remote areas. It will also complement the low earth orbit (LEO) satellite deal inked in July 2024 as part of its T25 strategy commitment to launch a satellite product with voice and broadband options available to consumer and business customers, offering voice-only and voice-plus broadband powered by Starlink to rural and remote customers. It was also designed to provide connectivity options for business customers in Australia and overseas, as a higher-bandwidth business-grade option in areas without fixed and mobile connectivity.

The collaboration will initially focus on testing and refining a satellite-to-mobile text messaging capability for Australian conditions, ahead of a commercial launch. Telstra sees satellite-to-mobile as one of the most exciting areas in the whole telco space, creating a future where outdoor connectivity for basic services, starting with text messages and, eventually, voice and low rates of data, may be possible from some of Australia’s most remote locations.

Commenting on the launch and what it could mean for the company’s future mobile network investments, Telstra’s group executive for global networks and technology, Shailin Sehgal, said: We’re committed to continue enhancing our mobile network to meet the growing demands and increasing data usage of our customers, which includes our continued roll-out of 5G to cover 95% of the Australian population by FY25…over the past seven years to the end of FY24 we have invested $11.8bn into our mobile network across the country.

“We have a continued focus on network resilience across all our technologies, architecture and network operations to make the network as reliable as possible. We will continue this investment to improve our terrestrial mobile network, while exploring how satellite technology can play a role in remote areas of the country not covered by land-based coverage.”