T-Mobile's Starlink satellite service is now available after months of testing
T-Mobile has been testing the service for six months . The company says that nearly two million people have already used it to do stuff like texting from remote trails and off-the-grid job sites. It also says that the service proved to be extremely useful during extreme weather events and natural disasters. For instance, over 410,000 people contacted loved ones during the LA fires and nearly 94,000 users did the same in the aftermath of the recent Texas floods.
T-Satellite supports texting on both Android and iOS devices and users can access a number of apps that have been optimized for satellite data transfers. These include Google, AllTrails, AccuWeather, WhatsApp, X and several others. T-Mobile Experience Beyond subscribers can use the service for free, but it costs $10 per month for everyone else. Non-subscribers will be able to contact 911 for free later in the year.
Interestingly, this service is not just for T-Mobile customers. AT&T and Verizon users can also access the platform by ponying up for that monthly subscription. If you buy something through a link in this article, we may earn commission.
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How SpaceX's rocket diplomacy backfired in the Bahamas
By Joey Roulette NASSAU, Bahamas (Reuters) -When SpaceX was negotiating a deal with the Bahamas last year to allow its Falcon 9 rocket boosters to land within the island nation's territory, Elon Musk's company offered a sweetener: complimentary Starlink internet terminals for the country's defense vessels, according to three people familiar with the matter. The rocket landing deal, unlocking a more efficient path to space for SpaceX's reusable Falcon 9, was then signed in February last year by Deputy Prime Minister Chester Cooper, who bypassed consultation with several other key government ministers, one of the sources and another person familiar with the talks said. Reuters could not determine the dollar value of the Starlink arrangement or the number of vessels outfitted with Starlink terminals. The Bahamian military, mostly a sea-faring force with a fleet of roughly a dozen vessels, did not respond to a request for comment. Reuters found no evidence that Cooper broke any laws or regulations in striking the deal with SpaceX, but the people said the quick approval created tension within the Bahamian government. By this April, two months after the first and only Falcon 9 booster landed off the nation's Exuma coast, the Bahamas announced it had put the landing agreement on hold. The government said publicly it wanted a post-launch investigation after the explosion in March of a different SpaceX rocket, Starship, whose mid-flight failure sent hundreds of pieces of debris washing ashore on Bahamian islands. But the suspension was the result of the blindsided officials' frustration as well, two of the people said. "While no toxic materials were detected and no significant environmental impact was reported, the incident prompted a reevaluation of our engagement with SpaceX," Cooper, also the country's tourism chief, told Reuters through a spokesperson. SpaceX did not respond to questions for comment. Cooper and the prime minister's office did not respond to questions about how the rocket landing deal was arranged. SpaceX's setbacks in the Bahamas – detailed in this story for the first time – offer a rare glimpse into its fragile diplomacy with foreign governments. As the company races to expand its dominant space business, it must navigate the geopolitical complexities of a high-stakes, global operation involving advanced satellites and orbital-class rockets – some prone to explosive failure – flying over or near sovereign territories. These political risks were laid bare last month when Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum said her government was considering taking legal action against SpaceX over 'contamination' related to Starship launches from Starbase, the company's rocket site in Texas, 2 miles north of the Mexican border. Her comments came after a Starship rocket exploded into a giant fireball earlier this month on a test stand at Starbase. Responding to Sheinbaum on X, SpaceX said its teams have been hindered from recovering Starship debris that landed in Mexican territory. MISSION TO MARS SpaceX is pursuing aggressive global expansion as Musk, its CEO, has become a polarizing figure on the world stage, especially following high-profile clashes with several governments during his time advising President Donald Trump. More recently he has fallen out with Trump himself. Starlink, SpaceX's fast-growing satellite internet venture, is a central source of revenue funding Musk's vision to send human missions to Mars aboard Starship. But to scale globally, SpaceX must continue to win the trust of foreign governments with which it wishes to operate the service, as rivals from China and companies like Jeff Bezos' Amazon ramp up competing satellite networks. The company's talks with Bahamian officials show how Starlink is also seen as a key negotiating tool for SpaceX that can help advance other parts of its business. According to SpaceX's orbital calculations, the Falcon 9 rocket can carry heavier payloads and more satellites to space if its booster is allowed to land in Bahamian territory. Meanwhile, Starship's trajectory from Texas to orbit requires it to pass over Caribbean airspaces, exposing the region to potential debris if the rocket fails, as it has in all three of its test flights this year. SpaceX's deal with the Bahamas, the government said, also included a $1 million donation to the University of Bahamas, where the company pledged to conduct quarterly seminars on space and engineering topics. The company must pay a $100,000 fee per landing, pursuant to the country's space regulations it enacted in preparation for the SpaceX activities. While SpaceX made steep investments for an agreement prone to political entanglement, the Falcon 9 booster landings could resume later this summer, two Bahamian officials said. Holding things up is the government's examination of a SpaceX report on the booster landing's environmental impact, as well as talks among officials to amend the country's space reentry regulations to codify a better approval process and environmental review requirements, one of the sources said. Arana Pyfrom, assistant director at the Bahamas' Department of Environmental Planning and Protection, said SpaceX's presence in the country is "polarizing". Many Bahamians, he said, have voiced concerns to the government about their safety from Starship debris and pollution to the country's waters. "I have no strong dislike for the exploration of space, but I do have concerns about the sovereignty of my nation's airspace," Pyfrom said. "The Starship explosion just strengthened opposition to make sure we could answer all these questions." STARSHIP FAILURES ROCK ISLANDS Starship exploded about nine and a half minutes into flight on March 6 after launching from Texas, in what the company said was likely the result of an automatic self-destruct command triggered by an issue in its engine section. It was the second consecutive test failure after a similar mid-flight explosion in January rained debris on the Turks and Caicos Islands, a nearby British overseas territory. Matthew Bastian, a retired engineer from Canada, was anchored in his sailboat on vacation near Ragged Island, a remote island chain in southern Bahamas, just after sunset when he witnessed Starship's explosion. What he initially thought was a rising moon quickly became an expanding fireball that turned into a "large array of streaking comets." "My initial reaction was 'wow that is so cool,' then reality hit me – I could have a huge chunk of rocket debris crash down on me and sink my boat!" he said. "Fortunately that didn't happen, but one day it could happen to someone." Thousands of cruise ships, ferries, workboats, fishing boats, yachts and recreational sailboats ply the waters around Caribbean islands each year, maritime traffic that is crucial for the Bahamas tourism industry. Within days of the explosion, SpaceX dispatched staff and deployed helicopters and speedboats to swarm Ragged Island and nearby islands, using sonar to scan the seafloor for debris, four local residents and a government official told Reuters. On the surface, recovery crews hauled the wreckage from the water and transferred it onto a much larger SpaceX vessel, typically used to catch rocket fairings falling back from space, the people said. The SpaceX team included its vice president of launch, Kiko Dontchev, who emphasized in a news conference with local reporters that the rocket is entirely different from the Falcon 9 boosters that would land off the Exuma coast under SpaceX's agreement. Joe Darville, chairman of a local environmental organization called Save The Bays, was angered by the Starship debris, as well as what he described as a "deal done totally in secret" over the Falcon 9 agreement. As Bahamian waters become increasingly polluted and coral reefs shrink, he's unhappy with the lack of transparency in his government's dealings with SpaceX. "Something like that should have never been made without consultation of the people in the Bahamas," he said. Pyfrom, the official from the Bahamas' environmental agency, said the review of the SpaceX report and the approval process will show "where we fell short, and what we need to improve on." SpaceX, meanwhile, is forging ahead with Starship. Musk said earlier this month he expects the next Starship rocket to lift off within the next three weeks. Sign in to access your portfolio
CNET
13 minutes ago
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New Speed Test Data Reveals the Nation's Fastest Internet Service Provider
There's been a lot of talk about internet speed lately. From various company taglines -- "Don't take slow for an answer" -- to the latest news about Japan's internet data transmission record, it's all about the speed. Just recently, Ookla released its Speedtest Connectivity Report for the first six months of 2025, and AT&T Fiber topped the list as the country's fastest fixed internet service provider. (Ookla is owned by the same parent company as CNET, Ziff Davis.) What does that mean? Does it tell us that AT&T offers the fastest internet plan available to customers nationwide? No. This report doesn't look at an ISP's top speed (the fastest plan the company offers) but instead considers the average internet speed that subscribers experience across all levels of the provider's plans. Many variables exist (including the internet connection type), so when you sign up for internet service, you shouldn't assume AT&T will always be your fastest option. That said, Ookla's report shows AT&T Fiber at the top of its charts, registering a median download speed of just over 363 megabits per second in tests collected by Ookla from January through June 2025. It's the third Ookla speed test report in a row (going back to the first half of 2024) in which AT&T Fiber has claimed the pole position. Overall, AT&T Fiber led Ookla's report with a 78.33 Speed Score, a unique metric the company uses to consider a provider's download and upload speeds and latency. Frontier Fiber, which is in the process of being purchased by Verizon, came close to nudging AT&T out of first place, recording a median download speed of 359Mbps and notching a Speed Score of 78.30. Third place was held by Verizon Fios, the company's own fiber internet service, while the cable internet providers Cox, Xfinity and Spectrum rounded out the rest of Ookla's list. Ookla Ookla is an internet speed-test company that collects data via its tool, which gathers insights from millions of daily customer uses. CNET frequently uses those findings to help inform our internet service provider reviews, as well as our city and state geo pages. Locating local internet providers Why do we care about speed tests? In CNET's ISP reviews, we stress that speed test data can be a helpful diagnostic tool -- a snapshot of your internet connection performance at any given moment. For example, it can help you pinpoint when and where your connection may be laggy. But it's not an exact science. Many things can affect a speed test, including whether or not you're using Wi-Fi or a hardwired Ethernet connection, the time of day you're running the test and so on. To be included in Ookla's Speedtest Connectivity Report, an ISP must appear in 3% or more of the data collected during the six-month window. That means some fiber-optic internet providers across the country might perform especially well, but if they're more regional and unable to hit that 3% minimum share of the national market, they won't appear in the top. Google Fiber is a good example. It was the fastest provider in nine of the country's top 100 cities (second only to AT&T Fiber), but it didn't reach enough households to meet Ookla's mark for national inclusion. Yes, nabbing the top spot is certainly something a company like AT&T can brag about. Last year, after the first of its three wins in a row, CEO John Stankey said in a press release, "The Ookla results confirm what we already knew in the market: the fiber experience wins by a mile. Pair our award-winning fiber with the largest wireless network in North America, and AT&T is the clear choice to connect customers anytime, anywhere.' But just because a company wins kudos as the fastest ISP in the country -- or a particular state or city -- doesn't automatically make it the best internet provider for you. Though AT&T Fiber places highly in CNET's overall ISP rankings (and is tied with T-Mobile 5G Home Internet for the highest score among all internet providers in the most recent American Customer Satisfaction Index report), it might not be available in your area. There may also be a smaller or more regional provider that might make more sense for you. Speed test results can be important factors when choosing a broadband provider, but they shouldn't be your only consideration.
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Yes, Starlink Is Now Much Cheaper: Here's the Catch
If you live in a rural or remote area, you likely already know how difficult it is to get a good internet connection. Most rural internet providers are devastatingly slow and typically pretty expensive. Starlink's standard plan has become a lifesaver for those without decent rural internet options, but the hefty up-front cost of equipment, $349, and the monthly rate of $120 make Starlink an unaffordable option for many families in rural areas. Now, if you've been looking for a chance to try Starlink, a new plan that knocks 33% off the standard monthly subscription price. But of course, there's a trade-off. Starlink Residential Lite reduces the monthly cost of Starlink from $120 to $80 in select areas. That's a $40 discount for customers in 30 US states, making it one of the most significant price drops we've seen from Starlink yet. While Residential still offers unlimited data, its download speeds are slower -- about 45 to 130 megabits per second. That speed might be enough for everyday browsing and streaming, but it won't match the performance of Starlink's standard plan. Still, if you're in one of the eligible states and need reliable rural internet access without paying top-tier prices, this lighter plan could be exactly what you've been waiting for. The Residential Lite plan at $80 a month is now available in 30 states. Starlink The less expensive plan has some caveats. It's half the speed of the Residential plan, which boasts download speeds of 100 to 270Mbps. In addition, Starlink acknowledges that Residential Lite plans will be the first to be deprioritized, which may result in lower speeds during peak hours. Locating local internet providers "This service plan will be deprioritized compared to Residential service during peak hours," Starlink says. "This means speeds may be slower for Residential Lite service relative to Residential service when our network has the most users online." Peak hours are generally between 6 to 11 p.m. on weekdays. That's right around when everyone finishes work and school and sits down to eat dinner, play video games or watch some Netflix before bed. Starlink says its network is a "finite resource" until the company can reach a peak number of Starlink satellites. Thus, Residential Lite subscribers may experience slow internet speeds if enough people are online. The big picture for low-income households The Affordable Connectivity Program ended last year, due to funds running out. Before the ACP ended, the government subsidized low-income households from $30 to $75 per month to help them get internet in their homes. The end of the program saw around 23 million households lose their internet connection. While Congress has not yet passed a similar bill or found a way to revive the ACP, other low-cost internet options exist. At $80 per month, the Residential Lite plan from Starlink is quite affordable for satellite internet service, but it's still not quite as good a deal as faster broadband plans from major ISP providers. For instance, I pay $80 per month to Spectrum for much faster, 600Mbps download speeds. For around the same price, Cox offers 250Mbps. AT&T Fiber's 300Mbps plan is $55 monthly, and Xfinity is even cheaper with a 400Mbps plan at a starting price of $40. People looking for cheap internet have more affordable broadband options than Starlink's Residential Lite tier. But this less expensive, albeit slower, plan could appeal to those in rural areas without many ISP options.
