SpaceX looks to be preparing to provide Starlink internet services to mobile users in remote locations.
Per PC Mag‘s reporting, SpaceX sent in an application to the Federal Communication Commission to operate a mobile satellite service.
The service would use Starlink satellites to provide communication data to users on the ground.
SpaceX now has the technology to pull this off at a cost that will make sense.
The company acquired Swarm, which was developing nano-satellites capable of supplying internet connectivity to the Internet of Things devices, including cell phones.
But the application does not detail what the mobile satellite service would look like to consumers.
However, the application does state:
This system will ensure that all Americans —even those in Polar Regions— enjoy the same low latency mobile services. And consumers are not the only beneficiaries of this improved service. For many Federal users, satellite service is the only communications option to support critical missions. Improving capacity and latency for these users could have significant national security benefits. All of these services are in the public interest.
SpaceX also took a shot at Dish Network in their applications. Dish Network has a 2GHz licence to operate a mobile satellite service. However, as SpaceX notes, they have hardly used and never expanded the service.
Nothing like a petty comment in an FCC application to add fuel to the fire in the on-going SpaceX and Dish Network feud.
