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Starlink & T-Mobile reportedly start tests for cellular satellite service

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SpaceX & T-Mobile reportedly started testing for their upcoming Starlink cellular satellite service. 

Recently, a few people claimed SpaceX and T-Mobile were testing their Starlink cellular satellite service. The service is commonly called Starlink Cellular or Starlink Direct-to-Cell. 

The speculations about Starlink Cellular’s tests started after Reddit user u/ommmyyyy posted about a perplexing change in their iPhone 14’s status bar. 

“Satellite appeared on my iPhone 14 status bar today instead of T-Mobile; this was in Madison, Wisconsin, by the way,” said the Reddit user in the post. 

A few Redditors replied to u/ommmyyyy’s post, and most of them can be split into two big camps. One side argued that “Satellite” refers to Apple’s Emergency SOS feature, which is available on iPhone 14 units and later. However, a few Apple iPhone users quickly refuted the theory. 

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“You can tell who in this thread is an Android user by those who keep claiming this is Apple’s system.

“This is not what the Apple Satellite system looks like when in use, by the way. Easiest way to tell: Apple’s system has a satellite icon instead of the LTE symbol. Additionally, when used, it will have a green or orange dot on the Dynamic Island. You have to actively connect to it with a whole UI that tells you where to point your phone; it’s not automatic and can’t just happen by accident,” commented Reddit user Lancaster61. 

The other camp believes that SpaceX and T-Mobile are running tests for Starlink Cellular. 

“This is definitely Starlink and T-Mobile playing around as more upgraded Starlink satellites get launched. To my knowledge, they actually deployed another batch the other day,” said u/Bob_A_Feets. 

The Cybertruck Guy account, over on X, seemed to encounter the same scenario as u/ommmyyyy on his iPhone. The X account holder successfully sent and received texts while in a moving car through the “Satellite” service. The Cybertruck Guy linked the service with SpaceX and T-Mobile Starlink Cellular service. 

In a recent interview, T-Mobile CEO Mike Sievert told Jim Cramer that Starlink’s direct-to-cell beta program would probably launch between late 2024 and early 2025

Starlink Cellular was initially expected to launch by fall 2024. However, Seivert stated that SpaceX has only 192 cellular satellites in Earth’s orbit. 

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Starlink Cellular reportedly needs around 300 satellites to offer services in the United States. Last week, SpaceX COO Gwynn Shotwell told the Texas House of Representatives that the aerospace company plans to launch 100 missions to put more Starlink satellites in orbit

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Maria--aka "M"-- is an experienced writer and book editor. She's written about several topics including health, tech, and politics. As a book editor, she's worked with authors who write Sci-Fi, Romance, and Dark Fantasy. M loves hearing from TESLARATI readers. If you have any tips or article ideas, contact her at maria@teslarati.com or via X, @Writer_01001101.

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Elon Musk

Tesla CEO Elon Musk announces major update with texting and driving on FSD

“Depending on context of surrounding traffic, yes,” Musk said in regards to FSD v14.2.1 allowing texting and driving.

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Credit: carwow/YouTube

Tesla CEO Elon Musk has announced a major update with texting and driving capabilities on Full Self-Driving v14.2.1, the company’s latest version of the FSD suite.

Tesla Full Self-Driving, even in its most mature and capable versions, is still a Level 2 autonomous driving suite, meaning it requires attention from the vehicle operator.

You cannot sleep, and you should not take attention away from driving; ultimately, you are still solely responsible for what happens with the car.

The vehicles utilize a cabin-facing camera to enable attention monitoring, and if you take your eyes off the road for too long, you will be admonished and advised to pay attention. After five strikes, FSD and Autopilot will be disabled.

However, Musk announced at the Annual Shareholder Meeting in early November that the company would look at the statistics, but it aimed to allow people to text and drive “within the next month or two.”

He said:

“I am confident that, within the next month or two, we’re gonna look at the safety statistics, but we will allow you to text and drive.”

Today, Musk confirmed that the current version of Full Self-Driving, which is FSD v14.2.1, does allow for texting and driving “depending on context of surrounding traffic.”

There are some legitimate questions with this capability, especially as laws in all 50 U.S. states specifically prohibit texting and driving. It will be interesting to see the legality of it, because if a police officer sees you texting, they won’t know that you’re on Full Self-Driving, and you’ll likely be pulled over.

Some states prohibit drivers from even holding a phone when the car is in motion.

It is certainly a move toward unsupervised Full Self-Driving operation, but it is worth noting that Musk’s words state it will only allow the vehicle operator to do it depending on the context of surrounding traffic.

He did not outline any specific conditions that FSD would allow a driver to text and drive.

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Tesla Semi just got a huge vote of confidence from 300-truck fleet

The confidential meeting marks a major step for the mid-sized carrier in evaluating the electric truck for its regional routes.

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Credit: Tesla

The Tesla Semi is moving closer to broader fleet adoption, with Keller Logistics Group wrapping up a key pre-production planning session with the electric vehicle maker’s team this week. 

The confidential meeting marks a major step for the mid-sized carrier in evaluating the electric truck for its regional routes.

Keller’s pre-production Tesla Semi sessions

Keller Logistics Group, a family-owned carrier with over 300 tractors and 1,000 trailers operating in the Midwest and Southeast, completed the session to assess the Tesla Semi’s fit for its operations. The company’s routes typically span 500-600 miles per day, positioning it as an ideal tester for the Semi’s day cab configuration in standard logistics scenarios. 

Details remain under mutual NDA, but the meeting reportedly focused on matching the truck to yard, shuttle and regional applications while scrutinizing economics like infrastructure, maintenance and incentives.

What Keller’s executives are saying

CEO Bryan Keller described the approach as methodical. “For us, staying ahead isn’t a headline, it’s a habit. From electrification and yard automation to digital visibility and warehouse technology, our teams are continually pressure-testing what’s next. The Tesla Semi discussion is one more way we evaluate new tools against our standards for safety, uptime, and customer ROI. We don’t chase trends, we pressure-test what works,” Keller said. 

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Benjamin Pierce, Chief Strategy Officer, echoed these sentiments. “Electrification and next-generation powertrains are part of a much broader transformation. Whether it’s proprietary yard systems like YardLink™, solar and renewable logistics solutions, or real-time vehicle intelligence, Keller’s approach stays the same, test it, prove it, and deploy it only when it strengthens service and total cost for our customers,” Pierce said. 

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Tesla extends FSD Supervised ride-alongs in Europe by three months

Needless to say, it does appear that FSD fever is starting to catch in Europe. 

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Credit: Grok Imagine

Tesla appears to be doubling down on its European Full Self-Driving (Supervised) push, with the company extending its demo ride-along program by three months until the end of March 2026. The update seems to have been implemented due to overwhelming demand. 

Needless to say, it does appear that FSD fever is starting to catch in Europe. 

Extended FSD demonstrations

Tesla EU Policy and Business Development Manager Ivan Komušanac shared on LinkedIn that the company is offering ride-along experiences in Germany, France and Italy while working toward FSD (Supervised) approval in Europe.

He noted that this provides a great feedback opportunity from the general public, encouraging participants to record and share their experiences. For those unable to book in December, Komušanac teased more slots as “Christmas presents.”

Tesla watcher Sawyer Merritt highlighted the extension on X, stating that dates now run from December 1, 2025, to March 31, 2026, in multiple cities including Stuttgart-Weinstadt, Frankfurt and Düsseldorf in Germany. This suggests that the FSD ride-along program in Europe has officially been extended until the end of the first quarter of 2026. 

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Building momentum for European approval

Replies to Merritt’s posts buzzed with excitement, with users like @AuzyMale noting that Cologne and Düsseldorf are already fully booked. This sentiment was echoed by numerous other Tesla enthusiasts on social media. Calls for the program’s expansion to other European territories have also started gaining steam, with some X users suggesting Switzerland and Finland as the next locations for FSD ride-alongs.

Ultimately, the Tesla EU Policy and Business Development Manager’s post aligns with the company’s broader FSD efforts in Europe. As per recent reports, Tesla recently demonstrated FSD’s capabilities for Rome officials. Reporters from media outlets in France and Germany have also published positive reviews of FSD’s capabilities on real-world roads. 

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