Residents living in areas with patchy mobile phone coverage could benefit from a new partnership between Telstra and SpaceX’s Starlink.

Earlier this month the telco announced it would partner with Starlink to provide a satellite-to-mobile text messaging service, improving coverage in regional and remote areas like Jamberoo, a location targeted under the federal government’s Mobile Blackspot Program. 

Telstra is yet to provide a start date for the service but a spokesperson says the collaboration would initially focus on testing and refining a satellite-to-mobile text messaging capability, ahead of a commercial launch. 

Telecommunications expert and Canstar Blue Utilities editor Tara Donnelly says the announcement is good news for customers in regional areas who have struggled to get mobile phone coverage.

Ms Donnelly says all three big telcos - Telstra, Optus and Vodafone - have made moves into offering some form of satellite technology.

“Starlink’s satellites orbit low over the earth and the signals don't have far to travel, so they are a great option for boosting and broadening coverage for regional Australians,” says Ms Donnelly.

Telstra is the first cab off the rank and has begun testing to allow customers to send an SMS over satellite-to-mobile technology using capabilities already built into later-model smartphones.

A Telstra spokesperson said the Starlink partnership would roll out with the text message service and eventually include voice calls and low-rates of data (internet) by using satellite signals to connect devices, rather than traditional mobile towers.

“Whether or not that will be happening straight away we'll just have to wait and see but I think that is the game plan from Telstra,” says Ms Donnelly. “We are assuming that the technology will be offered as a part of the current Telstra service plan so if you're a mobile customer you will presumably have access to this feature once it goes live if your phone is compatible.” 

Ms Donnelly expects Telstra will soon release a list of phones able to access the technology, along with further details of the rollout to customers. 

Residents in Jamberoo, a notorious mobile phone blackspot, will be watching the satellite technology testing with interest as they wait for a promised mobile phone tower to be completed. 

Late last year the federal government announced funding to build a new tower in Minnamurra Lane, just north of Jamberoo village, to improve coverage to the area under the government’s Mobile Black Spot Program. The tower is expected to be finished later this year but no completion date has been given. 

Federal Member for Gilmore, Fiona Phillips, welcomed the plan when it was announced in October saying Jamberoo, along with other areas in her electorate, had been “underserved due to the high costs of infrastructure, challenging terrain, and lower population densities”. 

“This new tower will help keep families connected, support local businesses, and bridge the digital divide in Jamberoo,” Mrs Phillips said at the time.