Telstra has switched on satellite access to a small group of smartphone apps, letting customers check Google Maps, look up the forecast and message family on WhatsApp from parts of Australia where its mobile network does not reach.
The expansion, live from Tuesday, takes the Starlink-powered service beyond the text messages which Telstra launched 13 months ago and is a first for an Australian carrier. It arrives with a substantial caveat: customers still cannot reach Triple Zero via satellite.
The list of supported apps is short because developers have to enable and optimise each one for satellite, and the link carries only light data. Supported apps include Apple Maps, Google Maps and AllTrails for navigation; iMessage, WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger, Signal and Google Messages; Apple Weather, AccuWeather and Google Weather; and Google Fitness.
Access requires an iPhone 13 or later, or a Samsung Galaxy S26, and an eligible upfront consumer or business plan. Pixel handsets and more Samsung models are expected by the end of 2026. Customers also need to be logged into the apps before they leave terrestrial coverage, because the satellite link cannot handle standard web authentication or app downloads.
Telstra says more than 26 million texts have been sent or received over satellite since launching last year. Daily connections now average more than 200,000, up from about 80,000 at launch, and 2.9 million customers have connected at least once.
Hannah Chong, Telstraβs network strategy and commercial engineering executive, said the service had found unplanned uses. During bushfires in Victoria this year, around Longwood and Harcourt, satellite connections tripled after fire damage and power failures knocked out parts of the mobile network. Telstra staff who volunteer with fire brigades used satellite messaging to share GPS co-ordinates.
βThey said it really provided that added layer of connectivity in that situation, which they havenβt had before,β Chong told this masthead.
The announcement follows this monthβs network failure, which cut about 45 per cent of calls and data sessions at its peak. During that outage, the satellite service went down too because it authenticates customers through the terrestrial network. Telstra executive Gerard Tracey told a Senate hearing there was βa high failure rate attached there as wellβ.
Chong said satellite could not be relied on in an emergency. βI think there is an element of peace of mind,β she said, describing caravanners whose families worried when they headed into the wilderness.
The federal government is reviewing emergency-calling laws written for fixed-line and mobile voice; Telstra, Optus and TPG have each told it the rules are not ready for satellite or text access to Triple Zero. A separate universal outdoor mobile obligation, requiring the three carriers to provide baseline outdoor voice and SMS coverage almost anywhere with a view of the sky, starts by December 1, 2027.
Telstra waited until Starlink had between 640 and 650 direct-to-cell satellites in orbit before it was satisfied Australia had full geographic coverage. Chong said the continentβs size works against it. In narrow markets such as New Zealand and Japan, SpaceX steers beams that would fall on ocean back over land. Australiaβs population hugs the coast, where the extra capacity is least needed.
βPhysics is physics,β Chong said, putting βlight yearsβ between what satellite and terrestrial networks can carry. Voice, faster data and machine-to-machine services are expected as newer satellites carry larger antennas, alongside 3GPP work on non-terrestrial network standards.
Telstra is, for now, the only Australian carrier selling satellite-to-mobile. Optus signed with Starlink in 2023 but has repeatedly pushed back its launch; TPG has run trials using 850-megahertz spectrum. Chong expects the field to even out. βLonger term we expect some form of partnership between the different providers,β she said.
Research firm Gartner forecasts direct-to-device connections across Australia and New Zealand will pass 670,000 this year and 1.5 million in 2027, with end-user spending rising from about $US23 million ($32.8 million) to $US66 million ($94.3 million). Analyst Khurram Shahzad said carriers were chasing an average revenue-per-user uplift of 10 to 30 per cent without building towers. He also predicted full outdoor geographic coverage would become a baseline customer expectation within five years, eroding the coverage advantage Telstra has spent decades building.
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David Swan is the technology editor for The Age and The Sydney Morning Herald. He was previously technology editor for The Australian newspaper.Connect via X or email.