T-Mobile to charge for Starlink access via phones, that cannot be an option for Zim operators

We have talked about Starlink’s Direct-to-Cell service, which is in beta testing in the US in partnership with T-Mobile. That will allow regular phones to use satellite internet, although it will be just text at first.

The biggest question with that service was how it would be packaged for users. The Starlink service will allow mobile operators to offer connectivity in 100% of the country, which is great.

However, since the mobile operator will presumably have to pay Starlink, it wasn’t clear whether mobile operators would push the cost onto users.

Unfortunately, it appears the very first mobile operator to get the service is going to charge for it. T-Mobile says it will add the Direct-to-Cell service as a bonus for users on the more expensive packages.

So, that’s akin to Econet saying only those on the more expensive Private WiFi Bundles or on SmartBiz will get the 100% coverage offered by the Direct-to-Cell service as a bonus.

T-Mobile says the rest will have to buy the service as an add-on. The operator didn’t say how much it will charge for it, but it won’t be free.

That’s all well and good, but I don’t think a similar model would work in Zimbabwe. The main reason we are excited about Direct-to-Cell technology is that it will finally get our folks in rural areas connected.

Note the subtle difference. The Americans are talking about Starlink helping with connectivity in dead zones. We are talking about introducing reliable connectivity in large parts of the country.

Now, if they have to pay for it as an add-on, that’s just not going to work. They are already earning less than their urban counterparts, and the vast majority will not be able to pay for the add-on.

Instead, in Zimbabwe, mobile operators should consider whatever payment they make to Starlink as an investment in their own network.

The government is on their case about rural connectivity, and if the Starlink Direct-to-Cell service comes out cheaper—which it will—than installing base stations, then that becomes the play.

That said, the government is already taxing the operators an extra amount to solve the rural connectivity problem. So, if the operators are going to get it done themselves with Starlink partnerships, then that special tax (the Universal Services Fund) should be scrapped or revised downward.

Let the money that was going to the USF be used to get Starlink Direct-to-Cell tech. That sounds like a plan to me.

I hope it happens that way, but knowing our government, there will be no tax cuts, and the call for rural connectivity will only grow.