Starlink Direct hits 5 million users in Japan in just two months

NTT Docomo's Starlink Direct service crossed 5 million connections on July 9, 2026 — just over two months after launching on April 27. The service beams a phone signal directly from SpaceX satellites to ordinary 4G smartphones, no dish or add-on hardware required. It's the fastest adoption of any satellite-to-phone service globally, and it raises a pointed question: can any carrier actually make this pay?

How it works

Starlink's Direct-to-Cell satellites act like cell towers in orbit. A compatible 4G smartphone sees a satellite as a standard base station and connects automatically. Docomo's rollout covers all of Japan plus 12 nautical miles offshore, and it works with 89 smartphone models — roughly 25 million devices already in circulation. Enrollment is automatic; users don't sign up or download anything extra.

The service isn't a broadband replacement. Speeds sit around 4G LTE equivalent, which rules out 4K streaming but handles SMS, RCS, iMessages, location sharing, and data apps. For Japan — a country where earthquakes and tsunamis regularly knock out ground-based towers — that's exactly what emergency planners need. Fishermen and sailors get usable coverage 22 km offshore for the first time without expensive satellite phones.

The monetization problem

The service is currently free, and that's where the story gets complicated. In the US, T-Mobile's T-Satellite launched on a similar free-then-paid model and saw lower-than-expected usage once the trial period ended, with most activity concentrated in national parks rather than everyday commutes, per Light Reading. Analysts warn Docomo faces the same cliff when it eventually introduces pricing. No timeline or price point has been confirmed.

In the UK, O2 Satellite launched in February 2026 at £3 a month as a bolt-on for Samsung Galaxy S25+ Pay Monthly customers — a much narrower rollout than Japan's 89-model compatibility list, notes Basenor. Virgin Media O2 extended landmass coverage from 89% to 95% at the same time.

What's next

Docomo isn't alone in Japan — KDDI launched its own direct-to-device service in April 2025, and SoftBank followed about three months before Docomo. Rakuten Mobile is expected to join by late 2026. The Japanese market is effectively a live stress test for D2D at scale, and every carrier watching from Europe and North America is paying close attention to one thing: whether 5 million free users can become 5 million paying ones.