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Virgin Media/O2 is bringing satellite mobile connectivity to the UK. The mobile network announced O2 Satellite this week: a first-of-its-kind service that it says will expand its UK coverage from 89% to 95%.
Created in partnership with Elon Musk’s Starlink satellite network, O2 Satellite will enable access to texts, messaging services such as WhatsApp and weather/location-based services such as Google Maps when in a mobile network blackspot – which accounted for around 8% of the UK’s landmass in 2022, according to Ofcom.
The service, which launches on Thursday 26 February, costs £3/mth to use. Existing O2 Pay Monthly customers can add O2 Satellite as a Bolt-on to their current plan; O2 says that in the future, the service will be available at no added cost to customers on an Ultimate Plan.
Virgin Media/O2 says that compatible handsets – that is, Samsung’s Galaxy S25 smartphones – will automatically switch from terrestrial to satellite mobile network when signal drops.
To that end, O2 Satellite can also act as a back-up when signal fails for other reasons beyond entering a known “black spot” – such as a temporary power outage or other technical failure.
The full list of compatible phones is pretty brief, but it’s as follows:
O2 hasn’t been clear on when we can expect more handsets to gain compatibility, but it wouldn’t be too much of a stretch to assume that the new Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra, Galaxy S26 and Galaxy S26 Plus might tick that box.
According to Virgin Media/O2’s press release, O2 Satellite will unlock a coverage area roughly “two-thirds the size of Wales”. The network promises that more features (beyond texts, messaging and location/weather services) will become available in time.
Here are the apps supported currently:
- AccuWeather
- AllTrails
- BBC Weather
- Facebook Messenger
- Google Find Hub
- Google Maps
- Google Messages
- Google Personal Safety
- Samsung Weather
- X
- Yahoo Mail
More apps are coming soon, although again, O2 hasn’t been specific. A full complement of social media apps would be a good start – as would a wider selection of fitness-tracking apps.
It’s also important to note that calls to emergency services aren’t currently supported by O2 Satellite, which unfortunately puts paid to any ideas you might have had about the safety benefits of the new tech.
In any event, this is a substantial step forwards for UK mobile network coverage, and I’ll be very interested to see whether it has any bearing on our 2026 edition of the Expert Reviews Mobile Network Awards.
You can find out more about O2 Satellite via the O2 website.
