Starlink, a SpaceX-owned satellite communications (satcom) services company has received FCC (Federal Communications Commission) approval to offer direct-to-cell services in select parts of the United States of America (USA). According to Reuters, FCC on Sunday allowed Starlink and T-Mobile to offer direct-to-cell coverage for devices in the areas of North Carolina (as these areas are hit by Hurricane Helene). FCC has likely granted this special permission only because of the natural disaster. Because of the Hurricane, it is very much possible that the local telecom infrastructure in North Carolina will be damaged.
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Starlink said that its satellites are already enabled and are broadcasting emergency alerts on the cell phones on all networks in North Carolina. On September 28, over 74% of the cell towers were down or impacted in North Carolina due to the damage caused by Helene.
Starlink's direct-to-cell service will enable the company to connect the satellite signals directly to the mobiles of the users. The satcom company has been deploying these special satellites for some time now with the help of SpaceX.
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"While SpaceX's direct-to-cell constellation has not been fully deployed, we felt that getting even this early test version into the hands of people on the ground could provide vital support as teams work to get infrastructure and services back online and help first responders with rescue efforts," T Mobile said.
T-Mobile assured that its networks are mostly fully recovered in the affected regions. Only less than 1% of network sites in specific areas have not been recovered. The only challenge is that Starlink doesn't have its full constellation of direct-t0-cell satellites in space yet. However, whatever help could be managed by the company can make a serious difference in the lives of the people in that area in North Carolina.
