Let's Connect Korean Phones to Starlink Within Two Months

Let’s Connect Korean Phones to Starlink Within Two Months

Once Starlink is properly available, I intend to make it central to my connectivity.

The reason is simple.

It gives me another option.

Until now, changing carriers in Korea has meant moving within essentially the same world.

Dislike KT? Move to SKT.

Dislike SKT? Move to LG U+.

You can choose a budget carrier too.

But the underlying physical structure changes little.

There are base stations, fiber-optic cables, and carriers with nationwide networks.

Starlink changes that premise.

It builds a network in the sky, not only on the ground.

And the change no longer ends at installing a satellite dish at home for internet access.

Mobile phones have begun connecting directly to satellites.

Other Countries Are Already Doing It

Starlink Mobile, formerly called Direct to Cell, connects ordinary smartphones directly to low-Earth-orbit satellites.

This is not about carrying a huge dedicated handset like older satellite phones.

It allows the LTE smartphones we already use to connect to satellites when terrestrial base stations are unavailable.

SpaceX has already built a Direct-to-Cell network with hundreds of satellites.

Nor is this merely an experiment in sending messages.

The service is expanding into data and app-based voice communication.

Japan matters even more here.

There, not only KDDI but also NTT Docomo and SoftBank have become Starlink Mobile partners.

This is not some intriguing technology available only in the United States.

Commercialization is happening right next to Korea.

Yet ordinary smartphones still cannot use direct Starlink connectivity in Korea.

That raises a question.

Why?

It Is Not Because the Technology Does Not Exist

Nor because there are no satellites.

Nor because Starlink does not pass over Korea.

Nor because Starlink itself is prohibited here.

Starlink has already officially begun service in Korea.

The Korean government approved the domestic satellite-service supply arrangement between Starlink Korea and SpaceX, and Korean consumers can officially subscribe to Starlink home internet.

The first door is already open.

Mobile connectivity remains.

There are real issues to resolve.

Spectrum.

Radio regulations.

Integration with existing mobile carriers’ networks.

Emergency communications and location information.

Consumer protection too.

So I am not arguing,

“Open Starlink Mobile to everyone tomorrow.”

That is not my proposal.

I want to suggest something much more practical.

Let’s Try for Two Months

I am not proposing nationwide commercialization within two months.

I am proposing that within two months, Korea reach a point where an actual demonstration can begin.

Those are entirely different claims.

We do not need to develop new satellites.

They are already in orbit.

The smartphones already exist.

There are precedents for integration with carriers in other countries.

Korea has Starlink Korea.

And an ICT regulatory sandbox already exists for new ICT services facing regulatory uncertainty.

Our first task is therefore not to build a rocket.

It is to determine whether we can connect.

The First Two Weeks

The Ministry of Science and ICT, Starlink Korea, and any willing participant among SKT, KT, and LG U+ sit down together.

Then answer several questions.

Which mobile spectrum could be used in Korea?

Which currently sold smartphones are technically compatible?

How would switching between ground stations and satellites work?

How would emergency communications and location information be handled?

What permissions and regulatory reviews are required under current law?

If something is unknown, establish that first.

Korea has a fast-track process for asking the government which regulations apply to a new ICT service.

Where necessary, demonstration exemptions allow testing under limited conditions.

I am not asking for a nonexistent institution to be created.

I am asking us to use the institutions we already built.

Day 30

Test in one location.

It need not be nationwide.

Jeju would work.

Ulleungdo too.

A mountainous area.

The coast or offshore.

A disaster-communications demonstration would also work.

There is no reason to compete with 5G speeds in central Gangnam.

That is not Starlink’s advantage to begin with.

There is one question to verify.

Can an ordinary smartphone connect through the sky where ground networks do not reach?

If so, that has value in itself.

Day 60

After sixty days, I would like the public to know at least the following.

Is a Starlink Mobile demonstration possible in Korea?

If so, what conditions are needed?

Which spectrum is under consideration?

Which devices can be tested?

Which regulatory issues must be resolved?

When could the first demonstration begin?

I am not insisting it must succeed.

If testing shows it is poor, do not proceed.

If it is uneconomic in Korea, drop it.

If there are technical problems, resolve them.

But waiting without even testing is a different matter.

It Need Not Be Bad for Existing Carriers

At first glance, Starlink competes with existing mobile carriers.

In the long run, it may indeed become a competitor.

That does not imply existing carriers should ignore satellites.

The first to integrate them may have an advantage.

Korea already has an excellent terrestrial network.

But building base stations for the final 1% of national coverage with the same economics is another matter.

There are mountains.

Islands.

Seas.

Disasters too.

Base stations can fail.

With another network in the sky, carriers can fill the final gaps in nationwide coverage differently.

The competitive structure therefore need not be

carriers vs. Starlink.

That is not required.

Initially, it is more likely to be

carriers + Starlink.

That may be the structure.

Japanese carriers are already taking that path.

Korea May Be Slow Precisely Because Its Networks Work So Well

There is an irony here.

Korea has excellent telecommunications infrastructure.

So this topic immediately prompts a familiar response.

“Why? Everything works fine already.”

True.

Fiber internet and 5G work well in central Seoul.

One could conclude that Starlink is unnecessary.

But new technology should not be tested only after the existing system breaks.

The next system should be tested while the current one works well.

Good fiber does not make satellites unnecessary.

Fast 5G does not make satellite communications unnecessary either.

They excel at different things.

Let terrestrial networks handle enormous urban data demand.

Let satellites handle mountains, seas, disaster areas, and coverage gaps.

Future connectivity is therefore unlikely to be a choice of one or the other.

Ground + space.

Phones automatically select the better network without users noticing the difference.

I think that is a much better network.

Consumers Do Not Want a Carrier’s Name

I do not need the letters KT.

Nor the letters SKT.

Nor the name Starlink itself.

I need connection.

The fastest ground network in Seoul,

a satellite in the mountains,

the sky while on a boat,

and the same smartphone connected abroad.

With greater freedom for consumers to choose which network they use along the way.

That is good telecommunications service.

If SpaceX eventually provides sufficiently good mobile service directly in Korea,

I genuinely intend to use it.

If a Korean carrier instead provides better service by seamlessly connecting terrestrial and satellite networks, I could use that.

There is no reason to be loyal to a carrier’s name.

Choose whoever connects you better.

So Let’s Get Moving for Sixty Days

This is not a demand to finish nationwide commercialization in sixty days.

Nor to bypass the law.

Certainly not to skip safety reviews.

Quite the opposite.

It is a proposal to begin the review.

Let the government identify the relevant regulations,

Starlink Korea present the technical conditions,

one domestic mobile carrier participate,

and a few actual smartphones connect in a small area.

Then publish the data.

If it works, expand.

If not, establish why.

In 2026,

“Can smartphones connect directly to satellites?”

is not a question we need to research from scratch.

Other countries already do it.

The question Korea needs to answer now

is not “Is it possible?”

Instead,

“When will we try?”

I think two months is enough to obtain a first answer.

Base stations are already floating in space.

Smartphones are already in our hands.

Korea already has institutions for testing new communications services.

So now,

let’s try connecting them.