Overview
- Amazon, which on Tuesday announced an $11.57 billion deal to acquire Globalstar, said the purchase will speed its Amazon Leo network and a planned direct-to-device rollout starting in 2028, with closing targeted for 2027 pending approvals.
- Bestel, a Grupo Televisa unit, began taking corporate orders on March 30 for Starlink’s direct-to-device service with nationwide availability that depends on satellite line of sight and local site conditions.
- Direct-to-device means standard phones and IoT devices can send texts, data and calls straight to low-Earth-orbit satellites in places with no cellular coverage, which is useful for remote work sites and emergencies.
- Bestel said it will integrate Starlink with fiber, LTE and microwave links and handle installation, monitoring, security and local billing to create resilient setups for corporate operations.
- Starlink already reports about 160,000 users in Mexico and has CFE contracts to extend access, and a 2025 audit flagged that many installed services were offline or not yet activated, highlighting performance risks and the need for careful rollout.