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Market analyst and network benchmarking firm Opensignal, which examines mobile networks by gathering crowdsourced data from users of their App, has published what they’re calling the “world’s first interactive map of satellite-to-smartphone D2D connections” (Direct-to-Device) – currently showing where people are connecting via Starlink’s satellite mobile network.
At present O2 is the only UK mobile operator selling a consumer Direct-to-Device (D2D) based O2 Satellite service (here), which enables normal Smartphones to connect to their UK 4G mobile network via Starlink’s cell-focused broadband satellites. Regular readers may recall that the consumer variant of this service typically costs an extra £3 extra per month and harnesses a small 5MHz (paired spectrum) part of the 1800MHz (B3) band.
The Opensignal D2D Satellite Map thus currently only shows D2D connections via Starlink’s network, although this will be expanded to cover additional D2D networks as new satellite operators (e.g. Amazon’s LEO) begin to make them commercially available around the world in the near future.