Opensignal has launched what it calls the world’s first interactive map of direct-to-device (D2D) satellite connections with smartphones — the technology that lets an ordinary, unmodified handset connect straight to a satellite instead of a cell tower. The Boston-based consumer connectivity analytics company announced the Opensignal D2D Satellite Map in a Business Wire press release dated 11 October 2026 and carried by Morningstar. The map is online at d2d.opensignal.com.
What the map shows
Every point marks a location where smartphones have connected to a D2D service since January 2026, extracted from Opensignal’s own measurements rather than from operator announcements or forecasts, the company says. The map will be refreshed monthly. Opensignal says its wider dataset draws on more than 50 billion daily data points from over 100 million devices across mobile, fixed broadband and satellite networks — a company figure that no outside party audits.
The release names no operator, mobile network or country, and gives no regional or national totals.
The figure missing from the launch: how many points
Neither the release nor the Morningstar version of it states how many connection points the map holds worldwide, the map as presented carries no counter or downloadable dataset from which a total could be derived, and Opensignal published no methodology note alongside it. The number is therefore not obtainable from any of the launch materials.
That gap matters because the two quantitative anchors Opensignal does supply measure different things. The 23-service count describes commercial offerings on the market; the 50-billion-data-point figure describes the size of the measurement panel, not how many satellite connections sit inside it. Neither says how dense real-world D2D use is. Until a point total or a per-country breakdown appears, the map establishes where D2D has happened at least once — not how much of it there is.
The 23-service claim cannot be checked
Opensignal cites the Global mobile Suppliers Association (GSA), an industry body that tracks mobile technology deployments, as reporting 23 launched satellite-to-cellphone services as of August 2026. Neither the release nor the GSA figure quoted in it names any of the 23, or states what a service must do to count as launched — a national commercial launch and a narrow emergency-texting feature would both appear to qualify. GSA compiles its deployment trackers from publicly announced operator and vendor activity, which is the kind of self-reported record Opensignal positions its own measurements as a corrective to.
The most visible of the 23 is SpaceX’s Starlink Direct to Cell, which runs commercially with T-Mobile in the United States — the same partnership whose executives have been playing down satellite-phone expectations in recent weeks, as Starlink News has reported.
Why it matters: spectrum is the contested resource
Until now the industry has had to make decisions without knowing where momentum and adoption in D2D are real, said Mike Sandy, Opensignal’s President, Market Performance. “D2D is reshaping who can deliver mobile coverage, and where, because the phone in your pocket can now reach a satellite directly,” he said, as quoted by Morningstar. Opensignal frames the map as an independent reference point for decisions about partnerships, spectrum and devices.
What D2D currently delivers is thin: Opensignal says offerings are largely limited to text messaging, emergency alerts and a small set of apps, and attributes those limits to constrained spectrum, early-generation satellite and handset hardware, and standards that are still evolving. Operators and satellite companies are working toward voice and higher-speed data, it says, while regulators weigh releasing more spectrum.
That spectrum contest is already playing out in deals and lobbying. Starlink News has covered SpaceX’s purchase of 800 MHz of spectrum for a US Starlink mobile push and European telecoms operators preparing a 2GHz spectrum push intended to limit it. Opensignal’s release comments on neither case, referring only to regulators in general.
No independent assessment of the map’s underlying data had been published at the time of writing. Morningstar, which carried the release, notes that third-party content on its site is provided for informational purposes and is not endorsed, reviewed or verified by Morningstar.
Frequently Asked Questions
Will the Opensignal map eventually show D2D speeds and quality?
Yes, that is the stated plan. Opensignal says it expects to show how well satellite-to-phone connections perform as D2D services mature, similar to the mobile network experience analyses it already publishes. It has not said when that performance data will appear.
Does a point on the map mean there is guaranteed D2D coverage at that spot?
No. Opensignal does not present the map as a coverage prediction or a service guarantee, and a point is not an indication that a given phone or price plan will connect there today.
Does the announcement say anything about D2D in Zimbabwe or elsewhere in Africa?
No. The release names no country at all, so it says nothing about African D2D activity either way. Readers wanting to check a specific location have to inspect the map itself.
When will the first monthly refresh of the map appear?
Opensignal has not given a date for the first refresh, nor said whether earlier months of data will remain visible once new data is added.
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