Among Android phones connecting to Starlink, a third are on AT&T. Only 2.2% are on Verizon, likely because they already have free satellite texting via Skylo, Ookla finds.
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T-Satellite, the Starlink satellite-to-phone roaming service that T-Mobile began selling in July, has drawn the interest and business of an unusual segment of customers: AT&T customers.
ursday study from the Ookla found that among Android smartphones running Ookla’s software that connected to Starlink anytime between December 2024 and last month, 60.9% were on T-Mobile and 34% were on AT&T. Only 2.2% were on Verizon, with the remaining 3% of phones on AT&T’s FirstNet service for first responders.
T-Mobile bundles T-Satellite, which supports texting as well as a small subset of apps, with the expensive Experience Beyond plan, which starts at $100 per month for one line. The carrier also offers it for free on its also-pricey Experience More plan ($85 on a single line with autopay) through the end of the year, after which it will cost $10 a month.
Everybody else needs to pay $10 a month today, and Verizon and AT&T customers have to visit a T-Mobile store or call their customer service to add it.
Ookla analyst Mike Dano suggests in the report that Verizon subscribers with Android phones are less interested in T-Satellite because those with recent Pixel and Samsung Galaxy phones already have free satellite texting from that carrier’s partner Skylo.
Ookla’s data comes from the Speedtest network-benchmarking app installed on vast numbers of mobile devices, but this study’s smaller sample sizes may make it less representative than Ookla’s large-scale tests of national network performance.
