T-Mobile is bringing Starlink satellite coverage to older phones so that owners can access 'life-saving' messaging

T-Mobile has submitted a request that the FCC waives its requirement to authorize each and every device for the so-called Supplemental Coverage from Space (SCS) service.

The SCS roster includes the Starlink satellite messaging service that T-Mobile currently offers as a free beta for all phones, including those on Verizon or AT&T, before its official release in July.

The phones currently include the iPhone 14 to iPhone 16, as well as the Samsung Galaxy 21 or Pixel 9 series and above, basically anything that has been authorized in the past couple of years, down to the lowly Galaxy A14.

When it comes to legacy phones like the iPhone 13 series, however, those who are still rocking them and think they serve them well are in for a vast amount of FCC authorization paperwork before Starlink satellite messaging lands on them for free during the beta period.

"Requiring terrestrial operators or their SCS partners to block access to SCS service on a device-by-device basis due not to a technical issue, but to a paperwork requirement, is also contrary to the public interest," argues T-Mobile before the FCC, because this would "allow the public to seamlessly receive services and emergency alerts in difficult-to-reach areas of the country and during and after emergencies."

The carrier goes as far as claiming that the cumbersome FCC authorization requirements on an individual device level prevent access to "life-saving" services on older phones, and asks the regulator to remedy the situation.

Currently, T-Mobile's Starlink tie-up includes only a messaging service, but as the direct-to-cell satellite constellation of SpaceX grows, the service will be able to offer data in remote areas without cell tower coverage, too.