Smart-collar maker Fi is putting Starlink in a dog collar. Its new Fi Ultra taps SpaceX’s direct-to-cell satellites. A bolting dog stays trackable even where phone towers cannot reach.
The next device to run on satellites is not a phone. It is a dog collar. Fi, a smart-collar startup, is launching the Fi Ultra. It is the first pet tracker to run on Starlink’s direct-to-cell network, Fortune reported exclusively.
Today’s GPS trackers, including Fi’s older models and rivals Tractive and Garmin, lean on ground-based mobile towers. The moment a pet runs past the last tower, the tracker goes dark. Fi’s Starlink tie-up aims to close that gap.
A cell tower in orbit
SpaceX has launched more than 650 satellites. Each acts like a cell tower in the sky, talking straight to LTE devices on the ground. No dish, no extra hardware, just a clear view of the sky. “The main limitation of all the tracking products out there is that they are using the LTE network,” founder Jonathan Bensamoun told Fortune. “Starlink obviously offers satellite technology, kind of omniscient access, at least in the US for now.”
