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Report reveals why T-Mobile users with Android phones should be grateful to Apple

T-Mobile's partner SpaceX initially wanted its satellite service to be exclusive to iPhones.

By Anam Hamid

Updated: May 27, 2025, 6:11 PM

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T-Mobile's T-Satellite service, which ensures your phone can send and receive texts when your network is not available, works with many recent iPhones and Android phones. T-Mobile has teamed up with Elon Musk's company SpaceX to use its constellation of Starlink satellites to provide connectivity in dead zones. Per a new report, Musk initially wanted the services to be exclusive to iPhones.

Apple's satellite ambitions date back many years but the company has been careful not to go too deep. The company doesn't want to upset the carriers it relies on to sell iPhones or trigger regulatory scrutiny.

In a detailed report, The Information chronicles Apple's satellite efforts over the years. The company first launched Project Eagle, which revolved around teaming up with Boeing to roll out satellite internet connectivity to iPhones and homes.

The project would have allowed Apple to reduce its reliance on carriers. Apple spent approximately $36 million on the project and wanted to introduce the service in 2019. The company eventually shelved the project.

After that, Apple started exploring other wireless opportunities that would allow it to differentiate its offerings. The company held talks with numerous satellite companies, including OneWeb to launch a satellite home internet service. It also engaged in discussions with EchoStar to bring satellite connectivity to the iPhone. Nothing came out of those efforts, chiefly because Apple wasn't sure if it wanted to proceed.

When Apple began considering Globalstar as a partner for iPhone's satellite feature, Musk caught wind of its plans. This was three years ago. Musk offered to provide exclusive satellite connectivity to iPhones for 18 months if the company paid $5 billion. After that exclusivity period, Musk suggested a yearly payment of $1 billion.

Musk gave Apple only 72 hours to decide, warning that if his offer was rejected, he would launch a satellite feature compatible with iPhones.

As we now know, Apple ended up rejecting the offer and Musk followed through on his threat by announcing a partnership with T-Mobile in August 2022, two weeks before the iPhone 14 was announced.

In this space, SpaceX only thinks about Apple as a serious competitor and Apple only thinks about SpaceX as a serious competitor.

—Tim Farrar, president Telecom, Media & Finance Associates, May 2025

This worsened Apple's relationship with Musk, who has criticised Apple on multiple occasions. He has even toyed with the idea of making his own phone whilst acknowledging that it's not an easy feat.

SpaceX has been trying to stall Apple's satellite expansion effort. The company has objected to Globalstar’s use of licensed spectrum and accused it of grabbing more than its fair share of spectrum. If SpaceX succeeds, the iPhone's satellite service may stop working.

This shell game serves one purpose: to block competitive entry in frequencies Globalstar has never meaningfully used.

—David Goldman, SpaceX’s vice president of satellite policy, 2023

Apple and SpaceX have also tangled over how much the Cupertino giant would support the rocket company's partnership with T-Mobile. Musk allegedly wanted to enable support for its satellite feature on a broad range of iPhone models, but Apple didn't want variants older than the iPhone 14 to have it.

Apple also doesn't seem pleased about the fact that compatible iPhones will default to Starlink's service instead of its Globalstar-powered solution when T-Mobile officially rolls out the feature in July.

Meanwhile, Apple execs remain uncertain about the satellite initiative, which is costing it hundreds of millions of dollars annually and some have suggested killing it off. Apple is careful to bill its satellite feature as a complement to carrier offerings. The company also backed away from a plan set in motion in 2023 that would have used satellites to deliver internet service to iPhones in remote areas.

Some former employees believe that SpaceX is ahead of Globalstar. The report has also revealed that Apple hasn't started charging for the satellite feature because it fears that the US government might start regulating it like a telecommunications carrier if it does. This could force it to build "build back doors into communication services like iMessage."

Although T-Mobile's rivals AT&T and Verizon have also teamed up with satellite companies to bring satellite connectivity to their users, the magenta carrier is far ahead, which is why Android users should be grateful that Cook rejected Musk's offers.

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Anam Hamid is a computer scientist turned tech journalist who has a keen interest in the tech world, with a particular focus on smartphones and tablets. She has previously written for Android Headlines and has also been a ghostwriter for several tech and car publications. Anam is not a tech hoarder and believes in using her gadgets for as long as possible. She is concerned about smartphone addiction and its impact on future generations, but she also appreciates the convenience that phones have brought into our lives. Anam is excited about technological advancements like folding screens and under-display sensors, and she often wonders about the future of technology. She values the overall experience of a device more than its individual specs and admires companies that deliver durable, high-quality products. In her free time, Anam enjoys reading, scrolling through Reddit and Instagram, and occasionally refreshing her programming skills through tutorials.

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