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Is SpaceX Building a Phone Carrier? · Elon Musk Podcast

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  SpaceX filed A trademark for the name Starlink Mobile, and that
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  move points toward a serious push into phone service.
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  Is SpaceX preparing to run a mobile carrier that blends
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  satellite links with everyday cellular plans?
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  Now, after the break, I'll unpack what a trademark filing
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  actually signals about this, how a Starlink mobile brand could
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  work in practice, and what product clues usually follow if
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  a company plans to sell true phone service.
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  And I'll breakdown possible customer experiences, business
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  models, and the roadblocks that shape a launch timeline.
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  So this is what, you know what to look out for in the future
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  when it comes to Sterling Mobile.
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  I think this will be really cool if they actually pull this off,
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  if they try to compete with the big carriers, it's going to be
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  amazing. They have a partnership with
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  T-Mobile right now, but we're going to get into this right
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  after this short break. Now we have 1 concrete data
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  point right now, a trademark filing for the name Sterling
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  Mobile. Now a trademark reserves
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  branding for specific goods and services and companies file
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  before they announce their actual products.
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  Now this gives us a narrow fact plus a wide field of
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  implications to test out. Now let's start with what a
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  trademark is and what it is not. A filing protects a name or a
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  logo for certain uses, such as telecommunications services or
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  software. It does not confirm a product
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  launch date or a final feature list.
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  Companies often secure names early to prevent rivals from
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  squatting on a brand they plan to use in the future.
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  Now, the word in the name actually matters.
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  Starlink Mobile reads as a consumer facing label that you
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  would expect to see on a SIM or an esim, a rate plan or a phone
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  app that signals intent to serve people who carry phones not only
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  homes, boats, trucks or airplanes.
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  Currently, it also pairs cleanly with the existing Starlink brand
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  that people already connect with.
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  Connectivity now mark like this usually sits on top of a few
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  possible offerings. One possibility is a mobile
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  virtual network operator that sells phone plans under the name
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  brand while it rides on existing terrestrial towers in cities.
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  Another possibility is a hybrid plan that uses ground towers
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  first, then falls back to satellite links and dead zones.
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  And #3 is a stand alone satellite first plan for basic
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  messaging and safety coverage and eventually phone service
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  with a consumer friendly label people recognize.
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  Now think about the customer journey that a name like this
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  tries to simplify. You own an app, you scan AQR
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  code and your phone loads an E SIM labeled Starlink Mobile.
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  You pick a tier that covers your home region, a travel add on
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  maybe, and a satellite fall back option for hiking, driving or
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  sailing. Now the brand promises simple
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  coverage in the plan. Names mirror that promise.
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  That means you could have Starlink Mobile within seconds,
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  no crazy sign up processes like the current carriers because
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  they want every single penny out of your pockets, they want to
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  bleed you dry, and they want to make as much money as they can
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  from that subscription. A baseline tier could focus on
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  text and basic data in remote areas, which keeps costs aligned
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  with the limited capacity of space links.
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  For now. Until of course, SpaceX and
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  Starlink ramp up their operations with Starship now a
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  mid tier could bundle traditional city coverage with
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  satellite fall back, which reduces anxiety about dead zones
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  on long road trips. And then you could have the
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  premier tier. And it could add global roaming
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  and priority support for frequent travellers, media
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  teams, field workers and just you and me.
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  We could have regular phone service, but it could be phone
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  service from space. And you could be always
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  connected, no matter where you are, no matter what you do, you
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  could have a connection. And this is a great thing
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  because I know I've been traveling a lot in the last few
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  years, and the fact that I have driven hours without a signal in
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  the mountains is incredible. And when you're out hiking
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  someplace and there's absolutely no service, there is no way to
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  contact people if something happens.
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  So I understand where they're coming from.
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  If they want to make a premier brand, they need to consider
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  phone service, tech service, all the stuff that we have now, all
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  the data may need that as well and start like we cannot accept
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  anything less. If it's just text when they roll
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  out, I get it. They have to test it.
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  They're doing that right now with T-Mobile.
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  But you know there there's going to be a whole slew of things
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  that they need to accomplish before this actually happens.
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  Now they're going to do the E SIM first approach it because it
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  removes cards like plastic cards.
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  You know the little SIM cards in an app reduces support overhead
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  for that. The app can also expose status
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  indicators that tell you when your phone sits on a ground
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  tower, like when there's something to to connect to.
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  Either they might have a partner network if they cannot connect
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  to the satellite or if you're on a satellite link.
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  So clear labels will keep people from guessing, which cuts down
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  on angry support tickets. And we all know that SpaceX and
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  Star Lake do not like to answer support calls.
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  Now this is a credible mobile brand.
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  Possibly it also needs emergency features.
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  People expect 911 calls to route location dated to reach
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  responders, a text to push through during storms.
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  You need to be able to contact everybody all the time.
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  A product that carries the word mobile should set expectations
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  about emergency behaviors in plain language.
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  And that clarity builds trust early and keeps churn from new
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  customers low. We don't want these people
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  coming in for a month or two and being like, eh, don't like it
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  and then leaving. Startling Mobile needs to build
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  on what current mobile providers provide.
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  Now. The international angle adds
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  layers to this too. A consumer plan that claims
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  mobile in the name will face country by country rules.
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  Number assignment in roaming agreements Slows down expansion
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  a little bit compared to a single nation data service.
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  Maybe they start in the US because that's where they're
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  based. Careful rollout sequence that
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  starts in one market and adds regions in waves wouldn't match
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  how these launches typically unfold.
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  Start in the US and in just a certain spot.
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  That's what they did with regular Starling satellite
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  service. Start with a few places, Maybe
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  start in California, maybe start in New York, maybe start in
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  Florida. Places.
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  They have clear skies all the time.
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  Arizona, New York isn't a good example of that by the way.
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  I but start places that have a clear sky would be a great way
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  to start this out, test this system, test the limits, and
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  then move on from there. So there might be some technical
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  constraints too, for anyone dreaming of phone calls from the
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  wilderness. Satellite coverage can extend
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  reach, but capacity remains finite.
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  So it just depends on how many satellites they have in orbit.
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  And you share your signal with everybody else as well.
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  That favors text first features before phone calls.
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  So maybe they start a roll out really early with just text and
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  data. But if there's heavy storms,
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  it's hard for satellites no matter who you are.
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  Even if you are * lake, it's difficult to get a get reception
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  through those storms. So we all know how difficult it
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  is to reach somebody when you're far away, but add a storm into
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  that in the possibility of reaching somebody, whether it's
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  data or a phone call is very difficult.
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  Now there's going to be trade-offs upfront, but they're
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  not going to over promise right away.
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  Elon will of course, we all know Elon will over promise.
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  He'll say that it's going to be the best thing ever and it's
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  going to connect to humanity more than we've ever been
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  connected and etcetera, etcetera.
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  But those things are going to be mitigated over time and they're
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  going to start small, of course, like tiny, tiny, tiny.
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  On the network side, a startling mobile label would apply, a full
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  service for subscribers, a phone number, authentication,
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  voicemail, spam controls and call features that like
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  everybody knows already well built product.
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  How's the complexity of how this signal reaches you?
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  You don't even think about your cell phone, do you?
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  You don't think about your phone or how you get connected, how
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  your phone transmits to a relay station and then it transmits to
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  somebody. You don't think it just works,
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  right? And that's what Starlink is
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  going to be doing and it's going to focus on familiar experiences
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  that anyone can use right away. So there's going to be an app to
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  sign up. Super simple sign up.
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  Probably a I would assume a five step process, maybe name, phone
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  number, e-mail address to start with.
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  Maybe your current, like your current physical address as well
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  if you have one, depending on regulations and then what tier
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  you want. I mean, I could see them
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  breaking this down. It depends on what the
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  regulations are wherever you are.
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  But I can see them breaking this down into like the smallest
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  bits, right? Because phone companies, when
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  they get all your information, they don't just get it for
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  themselves. They sell all your data.
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  They sell your data to other brokers so they can make money
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  off you even if you're not using their service.
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  So they have their hands in so many different cookie jars here
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  and they're making money even if you aren't signed up.
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  So they'll sell it to other mobile carriers, they'll sell it
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  to other outreach programs, whatever.
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  They sell your data. So I can see start like making
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  it super simple to sign up, scan AQR code, start your thing,
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  maybe 3 steps. What do you want your phone
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  number to be? Here's the ones available.
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  Here you go. And that's it.
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  You don't need anything else unless there's regulations, of
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  course. So this is going to be of
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  course, very slow, very slow roll out.
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  Maybe they, they might, they might partner with somebody like
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  T-Mobile who they've already partnered with for those
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  overlaps. If you cannot connect to a
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  satellite, maybe T-Mobile will be the backup for that because
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  they already have a partnership with them.
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  So that's going to be a something to really think about
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  because Starlink cannot work everywhere.
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  It doesn't really work well in cities like a major city like
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  New York City or LA. The buildings get in the way and
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  you can't have a signal. So they must partner with
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  somebody else who's local in order for you to get that
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  signal. So there might be, I mean, there
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  might be a way for them to figure this out, but maybe
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  there's a relay, maybe they have relay stations throughout the
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  city on rooftops or I am not 100% sure what they're going to
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  be doing. But remember how long it took
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  mobile carriers to get us where we are now in the speeds that we
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  have now was because they spent decades building out this
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  infrastructure and it's like they didn't do it overnight.
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  And of course, Starlink is, they're building it over time,
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  but it there's not going to be a Starlink service right away that
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  will be able to penetrate buildings.
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  There's no way that, I mean, they just can't do it.
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  That's not how physics works. So what should you watch next if
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  you care about this? We're going to look for
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  regulatory filings that describe mobile services in plain terms
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  that we can all read. Look for partner mentions and
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  marketing copy. Starling might send something
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  out in an e-mail with some hints or tips, and there are going to
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  be a leaks, I'm sure, and I look for help with that.
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  With the leaks now, a press event that shows an E SIM
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  activation end to end would mark a huge step, of course, but
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  that's not going to happen anytime soon.
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  This is just a trademark. We don't have to think about it
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  too deep right now. It's going to be years before
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  this thing comes out because they don't even have Starship up
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  launching Starlinks yet. Once they get Starship launching
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  Starlink, I think that's when we should really think about this
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  because right now, even though they got the trademark, they
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  might not have the the systems in place to get this started.
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  But who knows, they may have Starlink mobile as a a Co brand
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  to their T-Mobile partnership. So it does not guarantee you a
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  launch date at all, but it does reveal some intent from SpaceX.
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  When a company with an existing connectivity brand moves to
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  reserve a consumer phone label, it sets expectations.
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  Now, simplest read is often the right one.
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  Reserve name points toward a product the company wants to
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  sell under that name. So Starlink Mobile might exist
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