SpaceX Starlink SMS Enabled for Millions in Hurricane Impacted States

who thought that we could build a global system with thousands of miniaturized satellites'.

This tech nicely jumps over all our installed infrastructure making it ideal in an emergency.

with so many units, we have an external internet as well moving data everywhere.  This is a brute force solution that became viable thanks to Moore's law.

SpaceX Starlink SMS Enabled for Millions in Hurricane Impacted States

October 9, 2024 by Brian Wang

https://www.nextbigfuture.com/2024/10/spacex-starlink-sms-enabled-for-millions-in-hurricane-impacted-states.html

SpaceX Starlink turned on satellite service to cell phones in Florida in preparation for Hurricane #Milton hitting soon.

17% of North Carolina and parts of Georgia and Tennessee do not have phone service because of Hurricane Helene. Florida will be hit tonight by Hurricane Milton.

People with @TMobile can now text in Florida, and all phones and carriers will receive emergency alerts.

SpaceX enabled basic texting (SMS) for those on T-Mobile phones in hurricane affected areas. Text messages have already been sent and received. You can text loved ones, text 911 and continue to receive emergency alerts.

If a phone connects to a Starlink satellite, it will have 1 to 2 bars of signal and show “T-Mobile SpaceX” in the network name. Users may have to manually retry text messages if they don’t go through at first, as this is being delivered on a best-effort basis. The service works best outdoors, and occasionally works indoors near a window.

T-Mobile and Starlink asked for and received a second Special Temporary Authority (STA) from the FCC to operate the T-Mobile Starlink Direct-to-Cellular service over Hurricane Milton’s projected path.