According to international media, through this joint effort, many mobile users around the world will be able to receive warnings from the Commercial Mobile Warning System (CMAS), Wireless Emergency Warning Frame (WEA) and Earthquake and Tsunami Warning System (ETWS), helping to maintain essential communication in natural disasters or situations threatening life.
At the Mobile World Congress (MWC) 2026, MediaTek demonstrated the Starlink Mobile service on devices using MediaTek M90, the world's first 5G modem integrating satellite technology. Direct to Cell solution using S-Band band to ensure users can receive emergency information promptly on mobile devices anywhere in the world. This cooperation has successfully deployed the WEA service in the US, Canada, Japan and more than 4.4 million people have connected to Starlink Mobile in emergency situations.
The cooperation both promotes MediaTek's strengths in satellite technology, combined with Starlink's widespread satellite network to ensure that more and more people have access to rescue warnings in emergencies.
In addition, the new solution from the cooperation of the two units also thoroughly solves the situation of local'wave loss' that often occurs in natural disasters or emergencies, and is also an important step forward in commercializing NR-NTN satellite technology (new generation 5G network technology that allows phones and smart devices to connect directly to satellites) according to common standards.
According to market research company Omdia, mobile standard devices, i.e. smartphones using 4G or 5G technology to connect directly to satellites, will become a dominant model in the direct satellite-connected smartphone (D2D) market, with an estimated monthly user base of 411 million people and revenue of nearly 12 billion USD by 2030.
