T-Mobile’s partnership with SpaceX’s Starlink has taken an unexpected turn, a little over a year after the launch of a key service.
In July 2025, T-Mobile introduced its direct-to-cell satellite messaging service, T-Satellite, in partnership with Starlink. The service uses more than 650 Starlink satellites to provide coverage across 500,000 square miles in the U.S., where traditional cell towers fall short.
T-Satellite is included with some premium T-Mobile wireless plans, while non-T-Mobile customers can access it for $10 a month. On an earnings call in July 2025, then-T-Mobile CEO Mike Sievert said the carrier was “optimistic” that T-Satellite would be “a truly differentiated service that people notice.”
“I think it’s gonna be really a popular catalyst to bring people into that deeper relationship with T-Mobile US,” Sievert said, adding that T-Satellite could lead customers to other T-Mobile membership benefits.
T-Mobile axes Starlink from its main T-Satellite website
Despite T-Mobile’s ambitious goals for T-Satellite, it has quietly scrubbed the Starlink name from its main T-Satellite webpage, a move that comes shortly after the carrier confirmed a new competitive satellite joint venture.
The main T-Satellite website used to mention “T-Satellite with Starlink” in the logo and introductory statement; however, that is no longer the case. Starlink is not mentioned anywhere on that page.
The change follows the launch of a joint venture established by T-Mobile, Verizon and AT&T that aims to help close coverage gaps in the U.S. by “making satellite-enabled connectivity easier to deliver where traditional service is limited,” according to a press release.
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Through the joint venture, which is headed by interim CEO Paul Roth, the carriers will work together to “nearly eliminate” dead zones in the U.S. and provide redundant connectivity in emergencies such as extreme natural disasters or other unusual disruptions.
The joint venture will also enable customers to have simpler, more consistent access to satellite services across providers, thereby speeding up feature updates.
Overall, the move appears to challenge Starlink and other satellite competitors as the joint venture aims to “enhance competition” and foster innovation. However, the carriers state in the press release that “existing carrier-satellite agreements will remain in place.”
Starlink could lure customers from T-Mobile
T-Mobile’s move to formalize its joint venture with Verizon and AT&T comes months after its CEO, Srini Gopalan, said at a JPMorgan conference in May that T-Satellite has accounted for only a tiny fraction of the carrier’s network activity so far.
“Just to give you an example, we look at our data in May, and satellite usage is 0.0002% of our total network usage,” said Gopalan, according to a PCMag report. “That’s three zeros.”
Meanwhile, Starlink Mobile is seeing strong demand, with more than 22 million monthly users reportedly accessing its direct-to-cell services through carrier partnerships, according to a Basenor report in August.
SpaceX plans to become a stronger competitor in the wireless industry by building a terrestrial network for Starlink Mobile that will use its satellites and smaller ground stations.
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On an earnings call in August, SpaceX Chief Operating Officer Gwynne Shotwell said she believes Starlink Mobile’s upcoming terrestrial network could attract T-Mobile, AT&T and Verizon customers.
“I anticipate us to be able to acquire quite a few of their customers because I think our service will be better,” she said. “We will eliminate dead zones leveraging basically the satellites in orbit.”
The company’s potential to win wireless customers is reflected in a recent TD Cowen survey, which found that 34% of consumers would consider switching to Starlink Mobile, according to a Fierce Network report.
Among current wireless users, 52% of AT&T customers said they would consider switching to Starlink Mobile, compared with 30% of T-Mobile customers and 23% of Verizon customers.
Despite Starlink Mobile’s growing ambitions in the wireless market, Bernstein senior analyst Madison Rezaei wrote in a September analyst note that Starlink Mobile isn’t an immediate threat to traditional wireless carriers, according to an Axios report.
“Starlink Mobile may fill a meaningful gap in the market (i.e. remote, rural, maritime, disaster scenarios), but we believe it is a long way from replacing terrestrial carrier networks,” said Rezaei.
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