AT&T Satellite Phone Service Better Than Those Offered By Elon Musk and T-Mobile

AT&T CEO said his company is better than T-Mobile, Elon Musk in providing phone service to remote areas via satellites.

By:BLOOMBERG
| Updated on: Oct 06 2022, 22:14 IST

Elon Musk, Twitter deal done. Now, beware of hate speech?

AT&T — 1/5 Not even in the hot seat yet and Elon Musk already faces a series of challenges. Musk, in the past, had criticized Twitter’s moderation policy and called for almost unfettered freedom of speech on the platform. (REUTERS)

AT&T — 2/5 According to Reuters, one of the first decisions by Elon Musk as the new Twitter boss will be user-friendly tweaks to the social media platform, such as the inclusion of an edit button. Users have been longing for an edit feature on the platform. (REUTERS)

AT&T — 3/5 Musk also calls himself a free speech absolutist and wants Twitter’s algorithm to lower its moderation criteria and re-instate banned personalities such as former President of the United States Donald Trump. Elon Musk said in a statement, "Free speech is the bedrock of a functioning democracy, and Twitter is the digital town square where matters vital to the future of humanity are debated.” (AFP)

AT&T — 4/5 This has received a mixed reaction from the public where conservatives welcomed the prospect of fewer controls whereas human rights activists expressed concern towards a potential rise in hate speech, according to Reuters. (REUTERS)

AT&T — 5/5 Former Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey had been in Elon Musk’s corner for a while and thanked both Musk and current twitter CEO Parag Agrawal in a series of tweets. He said in a statement "Twitter as a company has always been my sole issue and my biggest regret. It has been owned by Wall Street and the ad model. Taking it back from Wall Street is the correct first step.” (AFP)

AT&T CEO John Stankey claims that his company is far ahead in the race to offer satellite phone service than T-Mobile and Elon Musk. (REUTERS)

AT&T Inc. Chief Executive Officer John Stankey said his company is way ahead of T-Mobile US Inc. and Elon Musk in efforts to provide mobile phone service to remote areas via satellites.

They each have announced plans to offer wireless phone and internet connectivity to remote regions through a series of low-Earth orbit satellites still being launched.

T-Mobile and Musk, operating through his company SpaceX, announced with great fanfare in August a service they said would save lives by beaming signals to and from areas like remote mountain tops and seas where hikers or sailors may be stranded.

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“I would say we probably have an 18 month lead on this,” Stankey said in an interview Wednesday. “SpaceX is going to have to go through the same process. And they're not going to have their satellite up for testing until the middle of next year.”

Spokespeople for T-Mobile and SpaceX didn't immediately respond to requests for comment.

Amazon.com Inc. founder Jeff Bezos and Verizon Communications Inc. are pursuing similar plans.

AT&T has been working with AST SpaceMobile Inc., its satellite partner. The companies will need further approval from the Federal Communications Commission for satellites to serve as cell sites in space. The airwaves they plan to use are currently approved for satellite transmissions at specific power levels.

“We are comfortable with our test data,” Stankey said. “The next step is to present our findings to the FCC, to support changing the license parameters.”

The initial uses for satellite communications will be for emergency services including connectivity for FirstNet, a government-run network. A consumer application would follow later, according to Stankey.

“It's inevitable that satellite communications will be a supplement to mobile service,” he said.

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