SpaceX’s plan to extend cellular coverage using its Starlink satellites with T-Mobile in the US has run into resistance from AT&T and Verizon. The two telecom giants are urging the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to reject SpaceX’s request for a waiver that would allow the company to operate beyond standard radio frequency limits.
AT&T and Verizon, who are also working on their own satellite-to-phone services through collaborations with AST SpaceMobile, argue that SpaceX’s proposed increase in out-of-band emissions power flux-density limits would lead to significant interference with existing terrestrial networks, reports Ars Technica.
According to AT&T, SpaceX’s request for a “ninefold increase” in these limits could cause an 18% reduction in network downlink throughput in operational areas like AT&T’s PCS C Block market.
Verizon echoed these concerns, predicting that SpaceX’s plans would degrade wireless phone performance, stating that the proposed changes “would subject incumbent, primary terrestrial licensee operations in adjacent bands to harmful interference.”
Both companies say that the FCC’s SCS order was designed to ensure that satellite deployments do not interfere with vital terrestrial mobile networks. AT&T’s filing asserts that the SCS framework must prioritize the quality of terrestrial networks, protect spectrum usage rights, and minimize the risk of harmful interference.
Verizon added that SpaceX’s proposal undermines the FCC’s core goal of protecting incumbent terrestrial operations, particularly those that provide essential services to millions of Americans.
However, SpaceX and T-Mobile are standing firm, arguing that their SCS service will not harm other wireless operations and that the objections raised by their competitors are based on misleading claims and competitive gamesmanship. In a filing with the FCC, SpaceX stated, “Each time that SpaceX has demonstrated that it would not cause harmful interference to other operators—often based on those parties’ own claimed assumptions—those competitors have moved the goalposts or have claimed their analysis should not have been trusted in the first place.”
SpaceX also argues that the FCC’s current emissions limit is unnecessarily strict and does not adequately account for the role of frequency in determining appropriate limits. The company believes that a reconsideration of these limits is necessary to enable the delivery of lifesaving services to American consumers. T-Mobile, which has licenses in both the PCS G Block and adjacent PCS C Block, expressed confidence that SpaceX’s proposed operations would not interfere with terrestrial operations, including its own.
SpaceX has already launched over 100 satellites equipped with direct-to-cellular capabilities and plans to roll out the service later this year. Meanwhile, AT&T and Verizon are still in the early stages of developing their own satellite networks.
Outside of the US, SpaceX plans to roll out direct-to-cellular capabilities with a number of network providers in countries around the world, including Rogers in Canada.
