SpaceX boosts Starlink with $17B EchoStar spectrum purchase

""This agreement will enable us to develop and deploy our next generation Starlink Direct to Cell constellation, which will be capable of providing broadband service to cell phones globally," SpaceX said. Musk's rocketeers currently have more than 600 Starlink Direct to Cell satellites in orbit, and the next generation of spacecraft will, according to the biz, be designed to make full use of the spectrum. SpaceX has suggested figures such as 20 times the throughput of a first-generation satellite and a 100-fold capacity increase."

""We're so pleased to be doing this transaction with EchoStar as it will advance our mission to end mobile dead zones around the world," SpaceX president Gwynne Shotwell said in a statement. The additional spectrum also gives SpaceX more flexibility in its operations. The deal, which consists of $8.5 billion in cash and $8.5 billion in SpaceX stock, will grant SpaceX 50 MHz of exclusive S-band spectrum in the US, as well as global Mobile Satellite Service licenses."

""For the past decade, we've acquired spectrum and facilitated worldwide 5G spectrum standards and devices, all with the foresight that direct-to-cell connectivity via satellite would change the way the world communicates," said Hamid Akhavan, EchoStar president and CEO. The sale will allow EchoStar's Boost Mobile subscribers to access SpaceX's next-generation Starlink Direct to Cell service. The company anticipates the latest arrangement will put to rest concerns from the US Federal Communications Commission (FCC) that EchoStar was sitting on unused spectrum."

EchoStar agreed to sell AWS-4 and H-block spectrum licenses to SpaceX for $17 billion, structured as $8.5 billion in cash and $8.5 billion in SpaceX stock. The transaction grants SpaceX 50 MHz of exclusive S-band spectrum in the US and global Mobile Satellite Service licenses. SpaceX plans to use the spectrum to build a next-generation Starlink Direct-to-Cell constellation capable of providing broadband to cell phones worldwide, with claims of dramatically increased throughput and capacity. The sale enables Boost Mobile subscribers to access the service, addresses FCC concerns about unused spectrum, and appears to end EchoStar's own constellation plans.

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