AT&T and Verizon Go Head-To-Head With SpaceX and T-Mobile

SpaceX recently opened up a collaboration with T-Mobile to use Starlink satellites for “direct to cell” connection. This has caused pushback from other providers, including AT&T and Verizon, that believe it would create “unacceptable harmful interference.”

The Starlink satellites would essentially be used as a space-based cell tower. The partners intend to use them to increase connectivity in remote locations. Their plan would launch this year with texting capabilities and, in 2025, open to voice and data.

To do so, however, SpaceX needs some wiggle room in the Federal Communications Commission's regulations. The company states that the current limits are “inequitable, unduly burdensome, [and] contrary to the public interest.” Therefore, they have applied for a waiver to allow their satellites to operate past normal out-of-band emissions limit parameters. This would ensure more sound internet coverage when customers are out of reach of traditional cell towers.

Several other service providers, including AT&T and Verizon, have started begging the FCC to deny SpaceX’s request. They state that it could interfere with and degrade their own operations, citing an AT&T technical analysis. This showed a potential 18%  reduction in network throughput to customers. SpaceX came to a different conclusion in their own analysis, which AT&T disregarded by stating that it “rests on unsound assumptions.”

In response, SpaceX wrote a somewhat contentious letter back to the FCC. They hoped to convince the commission to go approve the proposal because it was for a “good cause.”

“Unfortunately, with commercial launch fast approaching,” the letter stated, “a familiar cast of wannabe competitors has petitioned to stop SpaceX, demanding that consumers and first responders sacrifice these life-saving services and America’s leadership in supplemental coverage from space by imposing needlessly restrictive technical limits that harm consumers.”

While the statement may have been a tad dramatic, it does seem as though AT&T and Verizon may have an ulterior motive. Their own partner, AST SpaceMobile, is another space-based cellular broadband satellite network. Its first five ‘BlueBirds’ are expected to launch in September 2024.

The battle of the providers will likely continue until the FCC comes to a final conclusion on the issue.

FMI: www.starlink.com