You can now use T-Satellite to send images and voice notes, but there’s a catch

The ability to connect to a satellite for communication might not come in handy every single day, but having support for it in your backpocket can offer peace of mind whenever you’re off the grid.

In the US, T-Mobile is one of the few companies that’s making major moves in the satellite connectivity department. The carrier giant’s T-Satellite connectivity hopped out of beta last week, and is now practically available to everyone in the US, including Verizon and AT&T customers, and it’s only set to get better from here on out.

For reference, the carrier giant’s satellite service is tried and tested. Last year, in October, T-Satellite was enabled for all users in areas affected by Hurricane Milton. Subsequently, in January this year, the service was enabled again for users in wildfire-stricken Los Angeles. Since its early days, however, the service has been stuck on the SMS standard. That changed recently, and not many seemed to have noticed.

Pointed out by the folks over at PCMag, T-Satellite now also supports the Multimedia Messaging Service (MMS) standard, albeit with a small catch. MMS (currently) only works on Samsung and Motorola phones. This checks out, especially when you consider what the T-Sateliite’s page explicitly says — “Rolling out picture and voice messaging to select devices and will continue adding more in the coming months.”

Manage your expectations when it comes to delivery speed

This means that, in addition to regular texting, users that have joined the service and have a compatible device can also send pictures, voice messages, and potentially even short videos over MMS. This can be extremely helpful in an actual emergency, giving first responders even more comprehensive information like your exact location and situation. Alternatively, you could use the service to send a quick photo to friends and family to let them know you’re safe during your off-the-grid trip.

The folks over at PCMag pointed out that the experience isn’t delay-free, with images sometimes taking up to two minutes to be delivered. Still, I’m sure all of us can agree that delayed communication is better than no communication at all.

T-Satellite is now generally available across the US, including Puerto Rico, Hawaii and parts of southern Alaska. The service is bundled with the carrier giant’s Experience Beyond and Go5G Next plans. For other plan holders, including those on AT&T or Verizon’s network, the service is available as a $10/mo add-on.