Press Launch
KDDI and Okinawa Mobile will begin offering au Starlink Direct, a direct to cell service between satellites and au smartphones, on April 10, 2025. That is the primary Direct to Cell satellite tv for pc service in Japan [
1] .
The service is suitable with 50 smartphone fashions and is offered freed from cost to au customers from right now in the interim with out the necessity to apply.
The au Starlink Direct service permits au smartphones to instantly hook up with the Starlink satellite tv for pc that helps direct telecommunications, enabling connectivity wherever there’s a sight of sky, even exterior the protection space. Along with textual content messaging with mates, customers can obtain emergency earthquake alerts and share present location with households, offering peace of thoughts in emergencies. Moreover, Android customers can merely ship textual content inquiries to get help for searches and different duties from Google’s AI assistant, Gemini.
Though au’s inhabitants protection is greater than 99.9%, its space protection price is roughly 60% resulting from Japan’s distinctive topography [2]. au Starlink Direct, which covers all of Japan, permits connectivity within the remaining 40%. The service can be utilized to speak with members of the family and mates, in emergencies, and so forth., even in mountainous areas, island areas, and campgrounds and at sea the place it’s tough to offer a telecommunications atmosphere.
KDDI is increasing the au protection space to all of Japan to deliver the expertise of “Connecting the Unconnected. wherever you see the sky.”
Commenting on the launch of au Starlink Direct, Gwynne Shotwell, President & COO of SpaceX, mentioned: “I’m very excited to deliver direct-to-cell cellphone connectivity to Japan by way of KDDI, the primary in Asia and one of many first on the earth. Each Starlink and direct-to-cell are game-changing applied sciences, making connecting the unconnected easy and bringing probably life-saving functionality to the folks of Japan for catastrophe and different emergency responses.”
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- Amongst direct telecommunications providers between satellites and smartphones that allow people to ship and obtain SMS messages.
- “Outcomes of Survey of Radio Utilization Pertaining to Cell Telephones and Nationwide BWA in fiscal 2024 (in Japanese solely) (4.1MB)” by the Ministry of Inner Affairs and Communications.