T-Mobile successfully transmits WEA via Starlink satellites

With technological advances in the US, dead zones will soon be a thing of the past – at least for T-Mobile.

Today, T-Mobile announced that it has successfully sent and received a wireless emergency alert (WEA) over Starlink satellites equipped with satellite-to-smartphone capabilities. This is a significant achievement as it marks the first time in U.S. history that a wireless emergency alert has been sent via satellite.

On Thursday, September 5, a test alert for a hypothetical evacuation request was sent at 5:13 p.m. It was sent 217 miles into space, where one of the 175+ orbiting Starlink satellites that broadcast directly to smartphones received the signal. It then broadcast the alert to a geographic area designated for the hypothetical evacuation request. A T-Mobile smartphone received the alert. The emergency response took just a few seconds to queue up and transmit via the low-Earth-orbiting Starlink satellites.

Thanks to this technology, anyone in the U.S. will soon be able to receive an emergency call, even during a hurricane, tornado, or fire. The best part is that this isn't just limited to T-Mobile customers – anyone can receive the emergency call, regardless of carrier.

Source: T-Mobile