---
title: "Starlink and VEON sign a global Direct to Cell deal"
description: "Starlink and VEON announce a global Direct to Cell partnership that expands coverage and reshapes social media use, customer reach, and marketing strategy."
canonical_url: "https://www.isemediaagency.com/article/starlink-and-veon-sign-a-global-direct-to-cell-deal"
last_updated: 2025-11-10
---

# Starlink and VEON sign a global Direct to Cell deal

Starlink and VEON announce a global Direct to Cell partnership that expands coverage and reshapes social media use, customer reach, and marketing strategy.

A landmark deal bridging space and smartphones Elon Musk’s Starlink division of SpaceX has inked its largest direct-to-cell deal yet, partnering with Amsterdam-based telecom group VEON to beam cellular service from satellites to standard mobile phones . Announced on November 6, 2025, the non-exclusive framework agreement lets VEON integrate Starlink’s satellite network into its mobile operators. starting with Kyivstar in Ukraine and Beeline in Kazakhstan . The move opens satellite connectivity to over 150 million potential users across VEON’s markets (which also include Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Uzbekistan) . It’s the first multi-country alliance of its kind, positioning VEON as a pioneer in direct-to-device satellite service on a global scale . Why now? The satellite-to-smartphone race is heating up, with significant investments aimed at eliminating mobile “dead zones” . Competitors like AST SpaceMobile and Amazon’s Kuiper are preparing their constellations for debut in 2026 , and VEON didn’t want to wait. “This is the biggest partnership in terms of addressable customer base in the world,” said Ilya Polshakov, the Kyivstar executive leading VEON’s satellite efforts . He noted the plan is nonexclusive to VEON is also in talks with Amazon Kuiper, AST SpaceMobile, and OneWeb to but those networks won’t be ready until 2027 to 2028 , whereas Starlink can deliver service today . In Polshakov’s words: “I don’t want to wait. I want to develop business today” . By teaming up with Starlink now, VEON leapfrogs into the satellite-direct-to-phone era, aiming to fill connectivity gaps for consumers and businesses alike. The implications go far beyond telecom. By enabling basic connectivity literally anywhere you can see the sky, direct-to-cell satellites promise to bring social media, messaging, and digital services to places that previously had no signal. This article breaks down how Direct to Cell technology works, who gets it first, the competitive landscape, and how marketers and brands should prepare for a world with no offline . How Direct to Cell works in plain language At its core, “ Direct to Cell ” means your regular smartphone can connect directly to a satellite in orbit, instead of relying on a nearby cell tower. In practice, SpaceX is equipping Starlink satellites with specialized cellular base station (eNodeB) modules that act like orbiting cell towers , broadcasting standard 4G/LTE signals down to Earth . Your phone’s SIM and antenna treat the satellite just like a distant cell site to the phone doesn’t know it’s talking to something 500 km overhead. As VEON’s CEO explains, these low-Earth-orbit satellites function as cell towers in space , using advanced onboard modems to beam signals to normal handsets on the ground . No special satellite phone or external antenna is required; any LTE-capable smartphone could work, as long as it supports the frequency band the satellite is using and local regulators authorize the service . To make this seamless, Starlink’s space-based cell sites are integrated into mobile operator networks as if they were roaming partners . When a user is outside terrestrial coverage (e.g. in the steppe, desert, or open ocean), their phone can latch onto a passing Starlink satellite and send a text or WhatsApp message. The satellite relays the signal via its orbiting mesh network (using laser links between satellites) down to a Starlink ground station or directly to the operator’s core network . From the user’s perspective, it may just appear as one extra “coverage bar” or a network name indicating satellite mode. The big difference is latency (the time for signals to travel to space and back) and capacity to we’ll address those shortly. But fundamentally, Direct to Cell turns “no signal” areas into covered zones , using satellites to fill the void. As SpaceX puts it, this setup can eliminate dead zones , extending mobile coverage to the ~50% of Earth’s land area where terrestrial towers don’t reach . Handset compatibility and standards One of the most remarkable aspects of these services is that ordinary, unmodified phones can use them. Unlike old satellite phones, you don’t need a bulky external antenna or special SIM. Starlink and similar systems adhere to 3GPP cellular standards (the same global standards that govern 4G LTE and 5G). In fact, the latest 3GPP Release 17 includes specifications for Non-Terrestrial Networks (NTN) to essentially allowing satellites to appear as standard network nodes to a phone . This standardization means new smartphone chipsets are being built with satellite connectivity in mind. For example, Samsung announced a 5G modem supporting NTN, demonstrating two-way texting and even image sharing via satellite using its Exynos chips . In other words, the industry is baking satellite compatibility right into mainstream phones. What about existing devices? The good news is that many current 4G/5G phones can already communicate with satellites on the right band. Starlink’s system works with “any LTE phone wherever you can see the sky” . Early field tests have validated this: in mid-2025, Ukraine’s Kyivstar successfully integrated its core network with Starlink’s satellite system, confirming that standard Kyivstar SIM cards could connect through the Starlink Direct to Cell service . And in a high-profile demo in 2023, Vodafone and AST SpaceMobile made the world’s first satellite phone video call using a completely standard Samsung smartphone to no modifications to from a remote area with no terrestrial signal . These milestones prove that off-the-shelf phones can indeed receive calls, texts, and even video directly from satellites under real-world conditions. There are some caveats. Phones may require a software update to recognize the satellite network and adjust parameters (such as longer time-outs for signal due to propagation delay). Early implementations might use a specific app for certain functions to for instance, Starlink says voice calling will be “available with apps” in initial phases , implying a VoIP app might handle satellite calls until native dialer support catches up. Also, only newer phones support the necessary frequency bands in some cases. (For example, AST SpaceMobile is leveraging 850 MHz spectrum with Verizon , which most phones support; Starlink in the US initially planned to use T-Mobile’s PCS band around 1900 MHz , common in phones as well.) In summary, if you have a modern smartphone from roughly the last 5-7 years, it’s likely compatible out of the box with direct-to-satellite services to especially as carriers and OS makers issue updates aligning with the new 3GPP NTN standards. The era of satellite connectivity without special hardware is here by design. Early service phases and performance limits While the technology works with everyday phones, the user experience in the early phase will have limitations. The Starlink to VEON rollout, like others, is starting with basic text messaging as the first service, then expanding to more data-intensive uses. Text/SMS requires very low bandwidth and can tolerate delays, so it’s a natural starting point. According to SpaceX, Starlink’s direct-to-cell texting has been available since 2024 , with data services beginning in 2025 and voice following via supporting apps . This aligns with what we’ve seen in the field: T-Mobile USA launched its first satellite SMS service commercially in July 2025, allowing subscribers to send texts in dead zones (and even use apps like WhatsApp for simple messaging) via Starlink . Kyivstar’s Q4 2025 launch will likewise support SMS and over-the-top chat apps initially , and Beeline Kazakhstan is planning a messaging-only service in 2026 as Phase 1 . Why not jump straight to full voice and internet service? The constraint is network capacity and latency : A single low-earth-orbit satellite can only handle a limited number of connections at once, and it acts as a cell covering a huge area. Current direct-t

Published: 2025-11-10T00:00:00.000Z

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