Elon Musk has teased a future where Starlink would be at able to cater to all connectivity needs following the company's recent multi-billion-dollar acquisition of EchoStar's wireless spectrum for its satellite business.
The billionaire revealed that this was a strategic move for Starlink as it could potentially pave the way for the satellite internet service to expand into greater adoption for home use, as well as its direct availability on smartphones.
In his latest revelations, Musk said that Starlink could combine the satellite internet service for the home with mobile availability for its subscribers in the future.
Elon Musk: Starlink's EchoStar Acquisition Could Help it Expand
CNET reported on Musk's potential plans for Starlink, which he revealed in his recent appearance on the "All-In" podcast, where the multi-tech CEO discussed their recent EchoStar acquisition.
Musk talked about a plan that would make use of the $17 billion acquisition of EchoStar's wireless spectrum for Starlink's satellites and set up what they call "cell towers in space."
Through the technology, Musk shared that it would allow SpaceX to "deliver high-bandwidth connectivity directly from the satellites to phones." However, there are still various challenges that the service needs to address.
The executive said that with the present technology on smartphones, it would not yet be possible to receive EchoStar's frequencies and use the service despite having the satellites and spectrum available. According to the billionaire, smartphones would have to adopt new chipsets that would work with EchoStar's wireless spectrum frequency in order to deliver the service.
In Musk's estimates, this adoption could take around two years to complete. The executive said that this potential use of EchoStar's spectrum could be a "long-term thing."
Could Starlink Replace Mobile Network Carriers, Operators?
Musk suggested that Starlink could combine the satellite internet home service with mobile devices in the future, seemingly hinting that it could help transform the company into a network carrier.
However, Musk said that Starlink does not plan to challenge the likes of AT&T, T-Mobile, and Verizon and put them out of business.
In the podcast, it was suggested that one way to acquire more spectrum is by purchasing Verizon, to which Musk replied that it could be a potential scenario in the future, but he did not explicitly confirm that this would happen.
As of writing, Musk's SpaceX and Starlink are in partnership with T-Mobile to provide the satellite-to-phone service in the country with the technology dubbed the Direct-to-Cell network. It uses T-Mobile's spectrum powered by SpaceX's satellites that beam the connection directly from space, a service that does not require special hardware on devices.
It was initially used during national calamities and disasters. Starlink and T-Mobile's Direct-to-Cell network could only send texts and share locations, but it would soon bring data support to users.
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