The US Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has given Elon Musk's SpaceX and T-Mobile the authority to use Starlink satellites to provide direct-to-cell coverage for cellphones in areas of North Carolina hard-hit by Hurricane Helene.

Hurricane Helene caused devastation across much of the Southeast late last month, causing widespread outages in multiple states.

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– Wikimedia/PCN02WPS

"SpaceX and TMobile have been given emergency special temporary authority by the FCC to enable Starlink satellites with direct-to-cell capability to provide coverage for cell phones in the affected areas of Hurricane Helene," said SpaceX on X, on October 6.

SpaceX said that its satellites have already been enabled and started broadcasting emergency alerts to cell phones on all networks in North Carolina.

North Carolina was one of the hardest-hit states from Hurricane Helene. On September 28, more than 74 percent of cell towers were out of service across the state. Even as of Sunday (October 6), around 17 percent of sites were still down.

"In addition, we may test basic texting (SMS) capabilities for most cell phones on the T-Mobile network in North Carolina," the company added, while it noted that SpaceX’s direct-to-cell constellation has not been fully deployed.

"While SpaceX's direct-to-cell constellation has not been fully deployed, we felt that getting even this early test version into the hands of people on the ground could provide vital support as teams work to get infrastructure and services back online and help first responders with rescue efforts," said T-Mobile in its most recent update (October 6) on its recovery efforts in the wake of the hurricane.

T-Mobile and SpaceX first announced a partnership in August 2022, when the carrier set out plans to provide mobile signal connectivity from space with the target of leaving no area without coverage in the US.

Last month, Musk confirmed that SpaceX's satellite broadband subsidiary Starlink will provide mobile phone Internet in the US exclusively to T-Mobile for just one year.

The storm, which is estimated to have killed more than 230, produced wind speeds of 140mph, hitting large parts of Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, and Virginia.

It caused widespread outages to cell companies and power utility firms across the states, plus in parts of Tennessee, Kentucky, Ohio, and West Virginia.

Florida prepares for another category 4 hurricane

Another hurricane, named Milton, is headed for Florida this week. The storm is forecasted to make landfall as a category 4 storm, though was temporarily a category 5 yesterday.

Milton is predicted to hit the Tampa Bay area, before moving over to Orlando, with warnings of eight to 12ft storm surges, which would be the highest-ever for the region.

The threat of the hurricane is so severe that Florida is preparing for its largest evacuation in seven years.

The FCC has also approved emergency special temporary authority to SpaceX to provide Starlink coverage in Florida ahead of Hurricane Milton.