Ookla reports a 24.5% rise in global direct-to-device connections between July 2025 and March 2026 — but monthly usage still remains stubbornly low
In sum — what to know:
Double-digit growth: Global D2D connections increased by 24.5%, coinciding with Starlink’s D2D service rollout in a number of countries, Ookla finds.
U.S. on the lead: U.S. remains the largest market, accounting for 45.9% of global connections.
Usage: Regardless of the growth, monthly usage remains limited according to the report.
Global direct-to-device (D2D) connections went up 24.5% as Starlink D2D service debuted in a number of countries, even as monthly usage remains woefully low, according to data collected by Ookla between July 2025 and March 2026.
The company found that, reversely, the number of connections in the U.S. and Canada declined in that period, possibly in effect of T-Mobile and Rogers introducing paid D2D plans. Both services, powered by Starlink, cost under $15 a month.
Overall, U.S. maintained its lead in the number of connections, accounting for 45.9% of global users. Australia accounted for 18.1%, Chile 10%, and Canada 9.8%. Of note, all these countries have vast tracks of rural, regional, or outback areas that are outside of terrestrial network coverage.
During a drive test conducted in upper New York, Ookla reported signal strengths between -108 and -126 dBm on Starlink’s network — above the terrestrial cellular networks’ standard range of -80 to -120 dBm.
“In all, RootMetrics’ kit tried 238 times to send text messages through Starlink’s D2D network [when connected to Starlink’s MNC] during this drive test. The phones successfully sent and received texts 143 times, or roughly 60% of the time,” Mike Dano, lead industry analyst and author of the report, wrote, adding that the messages took between 1 second and 5 minutes to get through.
Yet, monthly usage remained limited, with Ookla Speedtest data showing only 0.11% users connecting to D2D satellites in Japan and 1.26% in Chile. Percentages for U.S. and Canada sat between the two at 0.46% and 0.70% respectively.
D2D services allow LTE/4G smartphones to connect directly to low Earth orbit (LEO) satellites, for text, voice, and data services in remote areas that fall outside of fixed network coverage. Apple pioneered the service in 2022 with Apple SoS through Globalstar. Available on most iPhones today, the service allows users to contact emergency services in areas where there’s no cellular coverage.
Today Starlink is the dominant provider in the D2D market, with smaller players, like AST SpaceMobile, Skylo, Lynk Global, and Amazon Leo also building out their presence.
Despite slim usage, there is palpable interest in D2D. Citing a Global Mobile Suppliers Association (GSA) report, Dano noted in his report that D2D is currently available in 15 countries, and 61 more are evaluating the service. Starlink alone has 59 D2D partnerships, with AST in second place with 28 partnerships.
In a recent interview with RCR, Dano said that with services growing incrementally, “I see a future in the near term where you just never have to worry about [dead zones].”
Regardless, it’s still early days for the technology. “D2D technology is still maturing. Most such connections can only transmit a few bytes of data,” he wrote.
Whether or not it will see mainstream adoption remains hotly debated. “Technological trends can get hot and cold. Everybody was excited about the internet of things [IoT] and not so much anymore. Certainly D2D is hot right now. It remains to be seen how exactly it plays out,” Dano said.
