Forum Discussion
Can I Opt Out of the new Starlink Program?
I love T-Mobile, been a customer for about a decade but I do not want my money going towards Starlink. Is there any way to opt out of it?
I would hope all customers revolt and demand that T-Mobile not work with Starlink. If they don't, I'm taking my business elsewhere even though I love T-Moible otherwise and have been a customer for 15+ years.
I cannot believe I wasn't aware of T-mobile working with musk/starlink until just now (I must be avoiding news a little too well these days). Well this supersedes the current problem I am having with my phone. Now I will be looking to switch service providers. Thank you for probably the last time, T-mobile Community!
You may need it when natural disaster hits your area and need to call for help when towers are down.
what help? he ended FEMA...
It also depends on your phone. If your phone doesn't have a satellite antenna, then the only way to send information would be through the internet, which I'm not sure if that's going to happen or not.
Another thing too is that satellite communications aren't easy to do. For the signal to reach the satellite and send data from your 1/2 watt powered phone you need to align up your phone and it can take a long time to even just send a simple text message. So worrying that your phone is sending data to a satellite service all the time sounds kind of impossible.
I don't know. What I do know is that T-Mobile does share data with their partners for various reasons. How that data is used, I have no idea. Obviously, it's no worse than what social media apps do with your consent every single day. However, you, if you are a T-Mobile customer, agreed to T-Mobile doing whatever they decide to do with your information when you signed up for service. I haven't read the entire service agreement because I am not a lawyer. I just try to be as informed as a consumer as I possibly can be.
Starlink access will eventually be a feature that you can add-on to your plan. Some plans, like Go5G Next may have access included. If you are on a Magenta plan or older, Starlink access will cost extra. By not subscribing to the add-on on older plans, you will not be able to access Starlink services.
But will Starlink be able to access my information?
this is the reply I got from Sean S in their Support Chat when I asked that very question.
"Yes, I can guarantee you that T-Mobile does not share customer data with Starlink. The T-Mobile Starlink service is a partnership where SpaceX’s low-Earth orbiting satellites complement T-Mobile’s existing network by acting as cell towers in space. This allows customers to stay connected even when they are outside the range of a terrestrial cell tower. However, there is no indication that customer data is shared with Starlink as part of this partnership."
I would also like to know this. Along with my money I do not want my location or data shared with this company.
