Starlink set to beam 5G data from space to T-Mobile and Boost phones with Dish spectrum purchase

SpaceX has bought $19 billion worth of spectrum from Dish's parent company EchoStar that will leverage the capacity of the current Starlink direct-to-cell satellite constellation 100x. This will allow it to provide 5G network connectivity to T-Mobile subscribers via their T-Satellite partnership, as well as to Dish's Boost Mobile and other carriers around the globe.

That doesn't mean that the Starlink 5G speeds will be the same as with terrestrial cellular networks that rely on cell towers, as the satellite Internet company will rather "augment high capacity terrestrial 5G networks." SpaceX cautions that it will be able to provide 4G LTE speeds, like in the early days of 5G network deployments by T-Mobile, Verizon, or AT&T, when their 5G network downloads simply matched the speeds that the advanced 4G LTE networks laid out over many years were able to provide.

The purchase of EchoStar’s 50 MHz S-band spectrum as well as its global MSS licenses is already reflecting on the SpaceX V3 satellite launch plans. Part of the satellites, which will build Starlink's gigabit network starting in 2026, will launch with 20x the direct-to-cell capabilities of the current generation, beaming 5G connectivity to T-Mobile, Boost, and other unmodified carrier phones on the ground.

Their phased arrays are already being upgraded to take advantage of the new spectrum purchase, and the extra bandwidth as well as the enhanced 5G protocols it allows will bring a 100x overall increase in the capacity of the Starlink direct-to-cell network.

Currently, T-Mobile provides text and image messaging via its T-Satellite partnership with Starlink, as well as rudimentary satellite data via optimized apps on select phones like the Pixel 10 or the Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra, as can be seen in the video below. The advent of the Starlink 5G direct-to-cell network will bring full-fledged data connectivity in areas without cellular coverage, down to video streaming and other data intensive tasks.

So much so, that EchoStar seems to have given up on the plans for launching its own direct-to-cell constellation and signed Dish's Boost Mobile for Starlink's upcoming satellite 5G network that can be used on any iPhone, Pixel, or Galaxy handset that its subscribers rock instead.