The Federal Communications Fee has shot down a SpaceX request to faucet the 1.6/2.4GHz radio spectrum that Globalstar has been utilizing for its personal satellite tv for pc companies, together with for Apple iPhones.
The denial is a part of a Thursday FCC order supposed to set clear guidelines on how firms use radio spectrum to energy satellite-to-phone companies, a market the place SpaceX, AST SpaceMobile, and Amazon-Globalstar are quickly increasing into. Satellite tv for pc business analyst Tim Farrar summed up the order because the FCC “telling everybody to remain of their lane.”
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The FCC itself added: “Particularly, the Area Bureau has launched a call that reaffirms current licensees’ unique rights to make use of sure D2D (direct to machine) spectrum bands by dismissing the requests of a number of operators to enter those self same bands.”
SpaceX has lengthy desired entry to the 1.6/2.4GHz bands to bolster its satellite-to-phone service in Starlink Cellular. However again in 2007, solely Globalstar and Iridium have been initially given unique entry to the spectrum. SpaceX has been arguing it will possibly share the radio entry with Globalstar with out inflicting radio interference. However in Thursday’s order, the Fee mentioned it discovered “no coverage or public curiosity causes to overtake the present licensing framework.”
The FCC famous it initially gave Globalstar and Iridium unique entry to the bands to offer regulatory “certainty and stability.” The Fee additional pointed to how Globalstar has since invested in build up its satellite tv for pc companies to energy emergency messaging for Apple iPhones.
“Given the character of MSS (cell satellite tv for pc companies), together with the ubiquity and moveable nature of cell gadgets, and using omni-directional antennas, there are vital dangerous interference challenges to incumbent customers in permitting extra makes use of in these bands,” the FCC added.
Equally, the Fee additionally rejected a SpaceX request to make use of the 1.5/1.6GHz bands that Ligado Networks was initially licensed to make use of.
Nevertheless, SpaceX did see a optimistic growth in a single spectrum battle. The FCC denied rival AST SpaceMobile’s request to make use of a slice of two.0 and a pair of.1GHz spectrum, which SpaceX is buying from EchoStar for US and worldwide use. AST, which can also be growing its personal satellite-to-phone service, proposed sharing the spectrum outdoors the US. However SpaceX had been calling for the FCC to disclaim the request, saying AST’s proposal would create dangerous interference, and flout the Fee’s precedent on spectrum use.
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“The Fee has made abundantly clear {that a} request for worldwide mobile-satellite service (‘MSS’) authorization shall be granted solely the place the applicant possesses the US authorization for a similar spectrum,” SpaceX informed the FCC final month.
In rejecting AST’s request, the FCC order discovered that “According to our home coverage and to make sure that the US 2 GHz spectrum licensee has a good alternative to compete within the international MSS market, we additionally decline to think about any extra US business techniques for worldwide operations within the 2 GHz band.”
The FCC’s Chairman Brendan Carr commented on the order in optimistic phrases. “We’re taking essential actions this week to provide this thrilling business the readability it must construct satellite tv for pc techniques and spend money on spectrum confidently. And we’re simply getting began,” he mentioned, noting the FCC is making ready extra motion to “supercharge” satellite-to-phone companies.
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Michael Kan
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I have been a journalist for over 15 years. I bought my begin as a faculties and cities reporter in Kansas Metropolis and joined PCMag in 2017, the place I cowl satellite tv for pc web companies, cybersecurity, PC {hardware}, and extra. I am presently based mostly in San Francisco, however beforehand spent over 5 years in China, overlaying the nation’s know-how sector.
Since 2020, I’ve coated the launch and explosive development of SpaceX’s Starlink satellite tv for pc web service, writing 600+ tales on availability and have launches, but additionally the regulatory battles over the growth of satellite tv for pc constellations, fights with rival suppliers like AST SpaceMobile and Amazon, and the trouble to increase into satellite-based cell service. I’ve combed by means of FCC filings for the most recent information and pushed to distant corners of California to check Starlink’s mobile service.
I additionally cowl cyber threats, from ransomware gangs to the emergence of AI-based malware. In 2024 and 2025, the FTC compelled Avast to pay customers $16.5 million for secretly harvesting and promoting their private info to third-party shoppers, as revealed in my joint investigation with Motherboard.
I additionally cowl the PC graphics card market. Pandemic-era shortages led me to camp out in entrance of a Greatest Purchase to get an RTX 3000. I am now following how the AI-driven reminiscence scarcity is impacting all the shopper electronics market. I am all the time desirous to be taught extra, so please bounce within the feedback with suggestions and ship me suggestions.
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