A SpaceX partner has pulled back the curtain on Starlink Mobile’s current performance, revealing that the satellite-to-phone service can offer data speeds of 4Mbps.
A director for Virgin Media O2, which offers Starlink Mobile through its mobile carrier business in the UK, mentioned the expected speeds during an appearance at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona. “There are 650 satellites in this constellation. Each satellite has…40 spot beams, and each of those spot beams can do around about 4 megabits per second,” said Robert Joyce, Director Mobile of Access Engineering.
The other interesting tidbit is how “these spot beams are about 50 kilometers [31 miles] across. So you take 4 megabits and share that across people in that area, it’s only ever gonna be useful for people in rural areas, not for urban areas,” Joyce said.
Video of Joyce’s MWC talk was published on Wednesday. SpaceX has also partnered with T-Mobile in the US, Rogers in Canada, and One NZ in New Zealand, giving them a way to offer coverage to users in cellular dead zones. But the companies have not revealed the exact speeds for the satellite-to-phone service, instead emphasizing satellite texting and compatible mobile apps.
T-Mobile’s implementation of Starlink Mobile, dubbed T-Satellite, also didn’t allow us to run a speed test app. Nevertheless, the 4Mbps rate aligns with June 2025 research that found Starlink Mobile satellites were offering a “downlink capacity of 4 Mbps per beam.” The study was later revised to include data from October 2024 through July 2025, which put estimated download speeds at 3.1Mbps, although it noted SpaceX could boost performance through several tweaks.
Although 4Mbps is relatively slow compared with 4G and 5G, Joyce noted the bandwidth is still enough for WhatsApp video calls and sending video messages, which we found in our own tests of T-Satellite. (That said, the video calls occurred in low resolution.)
(Credit: GSMA)
Joyce added that the satellite capability has also increased O2 UK’s land coverage from 89% to 95%. “It really is a game-changer in terms of how we deliver coverage in the future,” he said.
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SpaceX also plans on upgrading Starlink Mobile with second-generation satellites in 2027 that promise to increase the download speeds to 150Mbps per user. But at MWC, the company focused on Starlink Mobile as being “complementary to terrestrial networks” rather than a new competitor.
Where SpaceX is partnering to offer Starlink Mobile. (Starlink.com)
Although Joyce’s comments seemed to be directed at the current version of Starlink Mobile, he also indicated that satellite signals are best for outdoor use, rather than indoor.
“I think it’s worth saying, satellite is complementary,” he said. “Let’s talk physics, the satellite signal is coming from 360 kilometers above there in space, so it’s very weak… so it won’t go through a building like this. So we can’t provide indoor coverage from satellites.” Although the satellite signal can penetrate glass, “satellite will always be limited by the laws of physics,” which other telecommunication executives and experts have been pointing to as well.
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About Our Expert
Michael Kan
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I’ve been a journalist for over 15 years. I got my start as a schools and cities reporter in Kansas City and joined PCMag in 2017, where I cover satellite internet services, cybersecurity, PC hardware, and more. I’m currently based in San Francisco, but previously spent over five years in China, covering the country’s technology sector.
Since 2020, I’ve covered the launch and explosive growth of SpaceX’s Starlink satellite internet service, writing 600+ stories on availability and feature launches, but also the regulatory battles over the expansion of satellite constellations, fights with rival providers like AST SpaceMobile and Amazon, and the effort to expand into satellite-based mobile service. I’ve combed through FCC filings for the latest news and driven to remote corners of California to test Starlink’s cellular service.
I also cover cyber threats, from ransomware gangs to the emergence of AI-based malware. Earlier this year, the FTC forced Avast to pay consumers $16.5 million for secretly harvesting and selling their personal information to third-party clients, as revealed in my joint investigation with Motherboard.
I also cover the PC graphics card market. Pandemic-era shortages led me to camp out in front of a Best Buy to get an RTX 3000. I’m now following how President Trump’s tariffs will affect the industry. I’m always eager to learn more, so please jump in the comments with feedback and send me tips.
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