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SpaceX makes Starlink service available for T-Mobile users in Florida

Space company says service works ‘best outdoors’

FILE PHOTO - (AP Photo/Jenny Kane, File) (Jenny Kane, Copyright 2023 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.)

ORLANDO, Fla. – T-Mobile customers affected by Hurricane Milton will be able to send SMS texts over Starlink satellites, according to The Verge.

“We have now enabled basic texting (SMS) for those on T-Mobile phones in hurricane affected areas,” SpaceX says. “Text messages have already been sent and received. You can text loved ones, text 911 and continue to receive emergency alerts.”

You cannot get emergency alerts by texting 911. Please send up for your county emergency alerts by clicking here.

[RELATED: School, university closures | Download the FREE News 6 hurricane app]

According to The Verge, if your phone connects to a Starlink satellite instead of a usual antenna, you will see one or two bars of service, and the network name will be “T-Mobile SpaceX.”

If messages do no initially send, try again.

SpaceX says the service works “best outdoors” and “occasionally works indoors near a window.”