T-Mobile sends the first wireless emergency alert via satellite

T-Mobile Starlink’s satellite-to-smartphone technology is designed to bring critical emergency alerts to over 500,000 square miles of land currently inaccessible by ground-based cell towers. The emergency alerts will be available to everyone – even customers of Verizon, AT&T and other wireless carriers will receive critical emergency alerts. (Photo: Business Wire)

Today, T-Mobile (NASDAQ: TMUS) announced that it has successfully transmitted and received a wireless emergency alert (WEA) via satellite for the first time in the U.S. This breakthrough makes the 500,000 square miles of sparsely populated, mountainous and/or uninhabitable land across the country accessible for critical, life-saving emergency alerts.

“This is one of those days when, as the CEO of a wireless company, I have to pause for a moment and think about how technological advances and the work we do actually impact life-and-death situations,” said Mike Sievert.

On Thursday, September 5, at 5:13 p.m. PT, T-Mobile initiated a test alert for a hypothetical evacuation request. The alert was sent 217 miles into space, where it was received by one of the 175+ Starlink satellites currently in low Earth orbit that act as cell towers in space. The alert was then sent to a geographic area affected by the hypothetical evacuation request and received by a T-Mobile smartphone.

In total, it took emergency responders just a few seconds to compile an emergency message and transmit it to users on the ground via Starlink satellites.

The life-saving benefits of satellite-based wind turbines are enormous. Take the 2018 Camp Fire in Northern California as an example. The fire, which ultimately burned more than 150,000 acres of land, forced the evacuation of 52,000 people, destroyed 19,000 structures, including most of the town of Paradise, and, most devastatingly, claimed 86 lives, started in the rural Sierra Nevada mountains.

Those who lived, worked or spent their leisure time away from cell phone coverage – a relatively common occurrence in sparsely populated areas with large elevation changes – had no access to emergency calls due to a lack of cell phone coverage. The fire also destroyed 17 cell phone towers on the first day of the fire and a total of 66 in the first two weeks of the fire, making communication with emergency services or relatives almost impossible for many.

T-Mobile and Starlink are currently testing satellite-to-smartphone service, with more than 175 satellites currently in low Earth orbit communicating directly to smartphones. More SpaceX launches are planned in the coming months to add more satellites to the current constellation and provide even more wireless coverage across the country. T-Mobile intends to beta test the service before commercial launch.

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About T-Mobile

T-Mobile US, Inc. (NASDAQ: TMUS) is America’s powerful Un-carrier, offering an advanced 4G LTE and a groundbreaking nationwide 5G network that delivers reliable connectivity for all. T-Mobile customers benefit from its unmatched combination of value and quality, relentless obsession with giving them the best possible service experience, and undeniable drive for disruption that creates competition and innovation in wireless and beyond. Headquartered in Bellevue, Washington, T-Mobile provides services through its subsidiaries and operates its flagship brands T-Mobile, Metro by T-Mobile and Mint Mobile. For more information, visit:

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