Teslarati 
Key Points
- 🛰️ SpaceX Starlink has partnered with Optus to provide internet coverage to “100% of Australia.”
- 🌐 Optus already covers 98.5% of Australia’s population and aims to achieve complete coverage with the help of SpaceX’s Starlink satellite internet.
- 📡 The collaboration between Optus and SpaceX will begin with SMS coverage in late 2024, followed by voice and data connectivity in late 2025.
- 📶 Optus expects that 4G compatible phones will connect to the Starlink service when outside the terrestrial network coverage area and with a clear line of sight to the sky.
- 🌍 Similar to its partnership with T-Mobile in the United States, SpaceX is working with Optus and Telstra to offer comprehensive coverage in their respective regions.
- 🌐 Telstra will bundle Starlink services with home phone and broadband services for Australian customers.
SpaceX Starlink partnered with Optus to provide 100% of Australia with the internet. SpaceX and Optus are developing a type of connectivity that has yet to be offered in Australia.
Optus claimed that it already covers 98.5% of Australia’s population. It plans to provide connectivity to 100% of Australia with help from SpaceX and its Starlink satellite internet.
Optus and SpaceX collaboration starts in late 2024 with SMS coverage. The pair plan to offer voice and data connectivity starting in late 2025. Before the companies launch SMS coverage next year, Optus and SpaceX plan to extensively test the Starlink service.
“Providing you have [a] clear line of sight to most of the sky and an eligible plan with the service enabled, we expect that your 4G compatible phone will connect to the service when you are outside our terrestrial network coverage area and there is capacity on the satellite network,” noted Optus
In the United States, SpaceX Starlink announced Coverage Above & Beyond, a technology alliance with T-Mobile. SpaceX and T-Mobile’s collaboration seems similar to the company’s partnership with Optus in Australia. Both T-Mobile and Optus aim to offer 100% coverage in their respective regions.
SpaceX also teamed up with Telstra in Australia to bring Starlink services to its customers. Telstra will provide home phone and broadband services as a bundle to Aussies with SpaceX’s Starlink internet service.
