T-Mobile is removing barriers to emergency help by offering its satellite-based 911 texting service to everyone with a compatible phone, regardless of their carrier. The service launched today and works in the 500,000 square miles of the U.S. where cell towers don’t reach—completely free of charge.
The service uses their T-Satellite network powered by Starlink to connect phones to over 650 satellites orbiting more than 200 miles above Earth. When you’re out of cell range, your phone automatically switches to satellite mode without any special settings or manual adjustments. If you can see the sky, you can send an emergency text to 911.
The service works just like regular texting. Open your phone’s messaging app, type 911 in the recipient field, write your emergency message, and send. The signal goes up to a satellite instead of a nearby cell tower, then routes to emergency services. T-Mobile launched the full T-Satellite service back in July, and after seeing people use it for everything from backcountry adventures to emergency situations, the company decided to make the 911 texting feature available to everyone.
T-Mobile customers get Text to 911 for free, along with full T-Satellite service included in certain plans or available for $10 monthly. Non-T-Mobile customers can now sign up for just the free emergency texting or pay $10 monthly for the complete satellite service. Business customers can call 866-380-7511 to enroll, while individual users can sign up through T-Mobile’s website.
The company notes that iPhone and recent Google Pixel devices already have their own built-in satellite emergency services, and T-Mobile’s system will automatically defer to those native features when available.