Verizon’s new CEO, Dan Schulman, used Monday’s third-quarter earnings call to take a swing at SpaceX. Starlink’s phone service, he argued, “just can’t compete with a terrestrial network,” and in the suburbs and cities where Verizon makes about 98% of its money, his network is “somewhere between 100x-1,000x more efficient.” Elon Musk’s reply on X, about how long SpaceX needs to catch up, was four words long: “Will take 2 or 3 years.”
That fight is about 2028 and beyond. The more useful question for most people is about right now, and UNILAD Tech asked it this week: can you get Starlink on your phone without leaving Verizon or AT&T? You can, with a few conditions. Here’s how it works, what it costs, and what your own carrier gives you instead.
The short version
- The only way to use Starlink’s phone service in the US today is T-Mobile’s T-Satellite, and you don’t have to be a T-Mobile customer to get it.
- Verizon and AT&T customers can add T-Satellite as a second eSIM line for $10 a month, if their phone is unlocked, supports eSIM and is on the compatible list.
- It covers texts, picture messages, location sharing and data for a short list of apps. No regular calls, no open web browsing.
- Satellite texting to 911 through T-Mobile has been free to anyone in the US since late 2025.
- SpaceX says its own Starlink Mobile service, with “5G-quality” speeds, is targeted for early 2028.
What Verizon and Musk are actually arguing about
The spat is about whether SpaceX can become a full wireless carrier, not just a backup for dead zones. Schulman’s case, made on the October 26 call, is that satellites can’t match the capacity of cell towers where most people live. According to Analytics Insight, he put the cost of building a rival ground network at $300 billion to $500 billion. UNILAD reported him adding that “four to five years from now, we will be two to three generations better than where we are today,” with gigabit-plus coverage on millimeter wave. He has also said Verizon won’t sell network access to any satellite company, per Fierce Network.
SpaceX has the momentum to make the threat feel real. It agreed in September 2025 to buy EchoStar’s AWS-4 and H-block spectrum for about $17 billion, and the FCC approved that sale on May 12, 2026. It renamed its Direct to Cell service “Starlink Mobile” at MWC in March. And on its October 20 earnings call, management said it will launch a new “Mobile V2” constellation through 2027 and switch on “5G-quality” service on its own spectrum in early 2028, Light Reading reports. That’s a slip from the late-2027 target it floated in August. SpaceX also agreed to buy 800MHz low-band airwaves from Grain Management, which we covered when SpaceX bought 14MHz and called itself a carrier.
Sources: FCC, Light Reading, CSI Magazine, Verizon Q3 2026 call coverage.
How to get Starlink on a Verizon or AT&T phone today
T-Mobile’s T-Satellite runs on SpaceX’s Starlink direct-to-cell satellites, more than 650 of them by the time SpaceX finished its first generation in February 2026. T-Mobile sells it as a standalone add-on to people on other carriers. Your Verizon or AT&T line stays your main number; T-Satellite rides alongside it as a second line on an eSIM.
Step by step: add T-Satellite without switching carriers
- Check that your phone is unlocked. Phones bought through Verizon or AT&T on installments are often locked until paid off. Ask your carrier if you aren’t sure.
- Confirm eSIM support. Most iPhones since the XS and most recent Galaxy and Pixel phones support it.
- Run the compatibility check. T-Mobile lists 60+ compatible models, including iPhone 13 and newer, Galaxy S21 and newer, and Pixel 9. Enter your IMEI on T-Mobile’s T-Satellite page to be sure.
- Sign up online for standalone T-Satellite at $10 a month and install the eSIM it sends you.
- Keep Verizon or AT&T as your default line for calls, texts and data. When you lose all cell signal, your phone can fall back to the satellite line.
Set expectations before you pay. T-Satellite handles SMS and MMS, location sharing, and a slow data connection for apps that have been tuned for it. T-Mobile’s list includes WhatsApp, X, Google Maps and AllTrails (on Android). You can’t make normal voice calls or browse the web. You also need a clear view of the sky, so it works best on a trail or a rural highway, not inside a building. The $10 price is often described as introductory, and several outlets expect it to rise to $15, though T-Mobile hasn’t said when.
If all you want is a safety net, you might not need to pay anything. T-Mobile opened satellite text-to-911 to anyone in the US in late 2025, including Verizon and AT&T customers, though you still have to enroll with an unlocked eSIM phone. Phones that already have their own satellite SOS, such as iPhone 14 and later or the Pixel 9 and 10, are reportedly excluded.
What Verizon and AT&T give you instead
Neither carrier uses Starlink, and neither is likely to. Verizon partners with Skylo for satellite texting, which is free on eligible plans but limited to a few recent Android phones like the Galaxy S25 and Pixel 9, with no picture messages, RCS or data. Verizon has also signed a deal with AST SpaceMobile, which builds satellites that talk to ordinary phones, but there’s no launch date or price yet.
AT&T has bet on AST SpaceMobile too. AST has 13 of its BlueBird satellites in orbit after launches in June and August, far short of the 45 to 60 it wanted by the end of 2026, partly because Blue Origin’s New Glenn rocket was damaged earlier this year. FirstNet, AT&T’s first-responder network, has been field testing it, but there’s no consumer service you can buy today. iPhone owners, meanwhile, have Apple’s own Globalstar-based satellite features, which Apple has kept free for four years without naming a price.
| Option | What you can do | Price |
|---|---|---|
| T-Mobile T-Satellite via SpaceX Starlink | Texts, MMS, location, data in select apps, 911 texts | $10/mo for any carrier’s customers |
| Verizon via Skylo (AST planned) | Plain text messages and SOS on select Android phones | Free on eligible plans |
| AT&T via AST SpaceMobile | Nothing for consumers yet; FirstNet testing | Not announced |
| Apple iPhone 14 and later via Globalstar | Emergency SOS, Messages, Find My, Roadside | Free, extended again in Sept 2026 |
| Google Pixel 9 and 10 via Skylo | Satellite SOS only | Free for 2 years (Pixel 9 to about Aug 2027) |
| Starlink Mobile via SpaceX (own network) | Planned “5G-quality” service | Not announced; early 2028 target |
Why the dead zones matter
Schulman is right that cell towers win in cities. The case for satellites is everywhere else, and the FCC’s own numbers show how much “everywhere else” there is. Its latest Communications Marketplace Report, using June 2025 data, found that only about 39% of US land area gets 5G at 35/3 Mbps from at least one provider. T-Mobile says more than 500,000 square miles of the country have no coverage from any carrier at all, an area it compares to nearly twice the size of Texas.
That doesn’t mean 61% of the country has no signal; slower 4G LTE covers much of the gap. But it explains why satellite texting has gone from a gimmick to a feature people actually shop for, and why SpaceX thinks there’s room for a carrier that works “indoors, outdoors, in cellular dead zones, and everywhere in between,” as it puts it. For a deeper look at the long game, see our explainer on how SpaceX plans to become your next wireless carrier.
Is it worth $10 a month?
Verizon isn’t hurting in the meantime. It added 406,000 postpaid phone customers in the third quarter, its best third quarter in five years, though revenue of $34.31 billion came in below expectations. AT&T added 379,000 postpaid phones in its own third quarter. Nobody is leaving their carrier over satellite texting yet, and they don’t need to.
Sources and further reading
- UNILAD Tech: How to get Starlink on your phone without leaving Verizon or AT&T
- Analytics Insight: Verizon CEO warns of $500 billion cost
- Broadband Breakfast: Verizon CEO on Starlink and Amazon Leo
- Fierce Network: Verizon says no MVNO for Starlink
- Light Reading: SpaceX shoots for mobile service in 2028
- Mobile World Live: FCC signs off on EchoStar deals
- CSI Magazine: SpaceX rebrands D2C as Starlink Mobile
- T-Mobile: T-Satellite coverage
- T-Mobile: T-Satellite data-ready apps
- Android Authority: T-Satellite pricing
- BGR: T-Mobile satellite text to 911 for AT&T and Verizon users
- Skylo: Verizon satellite texting
- AST SpaceMobile: BlueBirds 11, 12 and 13 launch
- MacRumors: Apple extends free satellite access
- Droid Life: Pixel 9 gets extended Satellite SOS
- FCC: Communications Marketplace Report (FCC 26-55)
- Verizon: Q3 2026 results (SEC)
About this article: GeekBlog covers U.S. technology news, AI, phones, smartwatches and gaming. Every story is written and checked under our Editorial Policy. Spotted a mistake or have a story tip? Contact our editors.
