Telstra expands satellite capabilities to access messaging, maps and other apps anywhere in Australia

A year after launching SMS messaging via satellite, which is available in the far reaches of the Australian continent, Telstra is now expanding the service to include a select number of apps to use data even when they are out of range of the Telstra network.

Telstra Select Satellite Apps will allow the network’s customers to use a range of apps that are optimised to use data more efficiently, because satellite data isn’t quite as high bandwidth or speedy as normal mobile networks.

Using the new service requires either a Samsung S26 series phone, or an iPhone 13 or newer.

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Any customer with these devices on eligible Telstra plans will be able to use apps like WhatsApp for messaging, Google Maps for directions or weather apps like Apple Weather.

Supported apps currently include: 

• Navigation apps, including Apple Maps, Google Maps, and AllTrails; 
• Messaging apps, including iMessage, WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger, Signal and Google Messages; 
• Weather apps, including Apple’s Weather app, AccuWeather, and Google Weather; 
• Google Fitness, and of course, the My Telstra app

The satellite launch last year has been a huge success for Telstra, with more than 26 million text messages sent via Satellite Messaging.

The company says it averages 200,000 connections every day, up from 80,000 at the time of launch 13 months ago.

More than 2.9 million Telstra customers have connected via the satellite network with weekends and holidays the peak times.

And it’s not just fun and games messaging your mates on WhatsApp. During the bushfires in Victoria earlier this year there was a three-fold increase in the satellite connections due to fire damage and power outages impacting parts of the Telstra network.

The launch of Select Satellite Apps comes just weeks after Telstra’s major network outage affected millions of Australians and impacted hundreds of calls to Triple Zero.

Satellite messaging, however, would not have helped those customers during the outage, as the current government regulations around the service obligations of telcos are limited to the traditional mobile networks, and the Triple Zero system is not equipped to receive “calls” using data services.

Select Satellite Apps can be accessed now by Telstra upfront or business customers.