Elon Musk on Starlink's Direct-to-Phone Satellite Internet

Uh, it, it, it will allow SpaceX to ha- uh, deliver high bandwidth connectivity directly from the satellites to the phones.

Um, but, uh, there are hardware changes that need to happen in the phone.

So the... Since these frequencies are not supported in current phones, uh, they, the chipset has to be modified to in- add these frequencies.

Um, and that probably is a two-year timeframe.

So the phones that, um, are able to use the spectrum that was acquired probably start shipping in around two years.

Um, and, um, a- and then we also need to build the satellites that are gonna communicate on those frequencies.

So in parallel, we're building the satellites and working with the handset makers to add these frequencies to the phones.

Um, and then the, the satellites and the phones will then handshake very well to achieve high bandwidth connectivity.

But the, the net effect is that you should be able to watch, uh, videos, uh, anywhere on your phone.

Wow. From space. And it's gonna be crazy.

And what... And, and do these, do these frequencies, would they work indoors, inside buildings, you know, like- Yes ... like your phone currently does? Okay. Oh.

And so will you be able to have basically like- No, if you, if you, if you're in a building with a, with a, like, a, a thick metal roof, then no.

But, um- No, the sa- the same types of, of, uh- Yeah, yeah, normal- Yeah ... normal homes, yes. Yeah. Yes.

Elon, is your vision- Um- ... for this that instead of, you know, having an AT&T account or, and then roaming when you're in the UK or you're in India, it's just we could have one direct deal with Starlink, it works all over the world,

eventually, not today, but at some point.

Is that the end goal? That basically we don't need a- Yeah ... regional carrier, we have a global carrier, and that would be you?

Uh, that, that would be one of the options. To be clear, we're not, we're not gonna put the other carriers out of business.

They're still gonna be around, 'cause they, they own a lot of spectrum.

So, uh, there's, uh... But, but yes, you'll, you should be able to have a Starlink, uh, like you have, like you have an AT&T or T-Mobile or Verizon or whatever, you should be able... You, you could have a, a, a, uh, you know, account with Starlink that, uh, works with your, you know, Starlink,

uh, antenna at home w- uh, with your Wi-Fi as well as on your phone.

And, um, yeah, it would be a comprehensive solution for high bandwidth at home and for high bandwidth direct-to-cell, uh, mobile.

Could you buy some carriers to have more spectrum?

Maybe you could buy Verizon.