T-Mobile and Starlink enable their satellite texting service in Florida

The Federal Communications Commission has given Starlink and T-Mobile permission to enable their satellite texting service for Florida residents ahead of Hurricane Milton’s landfall. In an announcement on X, SpaceX said that Starlink’s Direct to Cell satellites will provide emergency alerts for all phones and carriers, not just T-Mobile’s, for those in affected areas. The companies have also enabled basic texting for T-Mobile subscribers, so that they can send and receive texts, as well as text 911 for emergencies, even if they get cut off from the carrier’s network in the midst of the storm.

SpaceX said the companies have activated Direct to Cell for Florida while it’s also in the middle of delivering over 10,000 Starlink kits in response to Hurricane Helene. A few days ago, the FCC allowed T-Mobile and Starlink to activate their Direct to Cell service for North Carolina, where more than half of cell towers temporarily went out of commission due to the hurricane.

Starlink’s and T-Mobile’s Direct to Cell service hasn’t been fully deployed yet. They’d only sent and received the first text messages using the technology back in January. And while they’re aiming to start offering their messaging service this year, T-Mobile said they’d deployed an “early test version” of it in the hurricane-hit areas.

Users will know if their phone connects to a Starlink satellite if they only have one-to-two bars of signal and their network name says “T-Mobile SpaceX.” The private space company said they’d have to manually try re-sending messages if they didn’t go through the first time and that the service works best outdoors. If users can’t get to open spaces safely, they can also try sending messages indoors near a window.