Telstra to bring SpaceX's Starlink Satellite-to-mobile technology to our customers

Together with Starlink, we have the best engineering minds collaborating on how satellite and mobile technology can work together to pioneer a new connectivity option for Australians.
Shailin Sehgal · 09 January 2025 · 2 minute read

Today we're excited to announce a new collaboration with SpaceX's Starlink to bring Satellite-to-Mobile (direct-to-handset) text messaging to our customers in Australia. This will enable us to provide better coverage from coast to coast, especially for those in regional and remote areas. 

The collaboration will initially focus on testing and refining a Satellite-to-Mobile text messaging capability for Australian conditions, ahead of a commercial launch. 

Telstra already has the largest and most reliable mobile network in Australia covering 99.7% of the Australian population over an area of 3 million square kilometres, which is more than 1 million square kilometres greater than our nearest competitor. But Australia’s landmass is vast and there will always be large areas where mobile and fixed networks do not reach, and this is where satellite technology will play a complementary role to our existing networks. 

As satellite technology continues to evolve to support voice, data and IoT we will explore opportunities for the commercial launch of those new services. 

This partnership is in addition to our current work with SpaceX’s Starlink around Low-Earth-Orbit (LEO) satellite home and small business fixed internet products. 

What is Satellite-to-Mobile technology? 

Satellite-to-Mobile is one of the most exciting areas in the whole telco space and creates a future where outdoor connectivity for basic services, starting with text messages and, eventually, voice and low-rates of data, may be possible from some of Australia’s most remote locations. You may also hear it referred to as Direct to Handset or DTH technology.  

What makes this technology so interesting is that for many people, they won’t need to buy a specific compatible phone to send an SMS over Satellite-to-Mobile, as it will take advantage of technology already inside modern smartphones.  

Satellite-to-Mobile will complement our existing land-based mobile network offering basic  connectivity where people have never had it before.* This technology will continue to mature and will initially support sending and receiving text messages, and in the longer term, voice and low speed data to smartphones across Australia when outdoors with a clear line of site to the sky. Just as mobile networks didn’t replace fibre networks, it’s important to realise the considerable difference between the carrying capacity of satellite versus mobile technology.  

Who will benefit most from Satellite-to-Mobile technology? 

Satellite-to-Mobile is most relevant to people in regional and remote areas of the country that are outside their carrier’s mobile coverage footprint. 

Currently, Satellite-to-Mobile technology allows users to send a message only.

This is currently really a “just-in-case" connectivity layer that allows a person to make contact for help or let someone know they are ok when they are outside their own carrier's mobile coverage footprint. 

What does this mean for Telstra’s future mobile network investments? 

We’re committed to continue enhancing our mobile network to meet the growing demands and increasing data usage of our customers, which includes our continued roll out of 5G to cover 95% of the Australian population by FY25. 

In fact, over the past seven years to the end of FY24 we have invested $11.8bn into our mobile network across the country. We have a continued focus on network resilience across all our technologies, architecture and network operations to make the network as reliable as possible. This includes making equipment more resilient in disaster-prone areas and increasing redundancy through adding diversified backhaul pathways including using satellite backhaul solutions.  

We will continue this investment to improve our terrestrial mobile network, while exploring how satellite technology can play a role in remote areas of the country not covered by land-based coverage. 

* We anticipate the service will be available from most outdoor areas on mainland Australia and Tasmania where you have a direct line of sight to the sky. Excludes the Australian Radio Quiet Zone in Western Australia and remote offshore territories and islands of Australia.

By Shailin Sehgal

Group Executive Global Networks and Tech, Global Networks and Technology

As Group Executive of Global Networks and Technology, Shailin Sehgal is responsible for ensuring Telstra remains at the forefront of enhancing its network resilience and technology and expanding its network leadership. This includes Telstra’s cyber security capabilities, private and public cloud infrastructure, identifying and deploying new technology, such as those related to 5G and Edge Compute, and delivering network automation and orchestration capabilities to provide exceptional experiences for customers. 

Shailin joined Telstra in June 2019 to lead Network Applications and Cloud where he introduced innovative fixed and wireless technology, as well as cloud-hosted products and managed services, including security services, across customer segments. He has more than 30 years of global experience across senior telecommunications networks, products and operations in senior roles. 

Prior to Telstra, Shailin was Executive Vice President of R&D at US-based Mavenir Systems, Senior Vice President – Product Architecture and Solutions Engineering at Reliance Jio (RIL Company) in India; and Senior Vice President & Chief Technology Officer, Multimedia at US-based GENBAND Inc. 

Shailin holds a Masters of Computer Science from the University of Texas at Dallas, and a BE (Hons) in Electronics Engineering from Nagpur University, India.