"SpaceX just fired off one of the biggest shots yet in the spectrum wars, agreeing to pay $17 billion to take over a massive chunk of wireless airwaves from EchoStar for Starlink's Direct-to-Cell services. The deal is the most aggressive signal yet that SpaceX wants to rule the satellite-to-phone market. The significance of the sale, which sees SpaceX paying a mix of $8.5 billion in cash and $8.5 billion in SpaceX stock, centers around a finite resource: spectrum."
"In 2024, the FCC approved a new regulatory framework called Supplemental Coverage from Space that paved the way for satellites to legally extend carrier networks. SCS lets a satellite operator, in partnership with a terrestrial carrier, use the carrier's existing phone spectrum to fill wireless coverage gaps as a secondary service. Later that year, SpaceX officially began offering its Direct-to-Cell service to T-Mobile users as a premium add-on."
SpaceX agreed to buy EchoStar's wireless spectrum for $17 billion, comprising $8.5 billion cash and $8.5 billion in SpaceX stock. Spectrum is a finite set of radio frequencies used for phone calls, texts, GPS, and satellite communications, and the FCC allocates it into bands and auctions long-term licenses. Prime cellular bands are largely held by national carriers while satellite operators held separate bands. In 2024 the FCC approved Supplemental Coverage from Space (SCS), allowing satellite operators, in partnership with terrestrial carriers, to use carrier spectrum as a secondary service. SpaceX began offering Direct-to-Cell to T-Mobile and can now operate without a terrestrial licensee.
Read at TechCrunch
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