SpaceX has confirmed that it will develop its own Starlink mobile network, which sounds like it will compete directly with the big three – AT&T, Verizon and T-Mobile.
Starlink Mobile already exists, and typically works in partnership with local carriers to provide limited access to mobile data on satellite-ready phones. In the United States, this service runs in partnership with T-Mobile. What is changing is that SpaceX has announced that it will combine satellite and terrestrial mobile infrastructure with the goal of becoming a “major” US carrier.
As part of this move, SpaceX acquired licenses to low-band mobile spectrum. Specifically, up to 14 MHz of paired spectrum in the 800 MHz band. This is in addition to the 2GHz of mid-band spectrum that Starlink already acquired from EchoStar last year.
Latest Videos FromTom the guide
SpaceX made it clear that the mid-band spectrum deals with high bandwidth capacity, while this new spectrum “provides a new coverage layer” that allows Starlink signals to pass through walls and keep people connected when they are outside. Plus, existing phones already support the 800MHz spectrum band.
One thing that needs to be made clear is that SpaceX is still waiting for final approval from the FCC, and cannot move forward with its plans until that happens. However, the FCC had approved plans to deploy 15,000 V2 Starlink Mobile satellites, which SpaceX says will provide 100 times the bandwidth compared to current generation satellites.
Satellites are still crucial to these plans
SpaceX confirmed that the V2 satellites are a big part of its plans, and that the combination of the V2 satellite and the new spectrum will provide customers with “reliable service indoors, outdoors, in cellular dead zones, and everywhere in between.” All through the way it will deploy space and ground-based mobile infrastructure.
It is unlikely that Starlink Mobile will expand any time soon, however. Building ground-based infrastructure takes time and resources, which is why most US mobile services go through the big three carriers – either directly or as part of an MVNO. Either Starlink signs an agreement with the major carriers and operates as a virtual operator as a short-term solution, or it postpones a real Starlink Mobile launch until much further down the line.
It’s also not a particularly large chunk of spectrum, even if SpaceX intends to complement it with satellite-based internet. AT&T, for example, added 50Hz spectrum to improve its 5G services earlier this year, split between the 3.45GHz and 600 MHz spectrum bands. In contrast, 14MHz is not much, and I suspect that SpaceX will license more wireless spectrum space in the future.
Still, this announcement suggests that SpaceX is serious about expanding Starlink’s ground-based coverage and positioning itself as a major player in the mobile industry. Maybe one day all your cell data will come via Starlink, whether you’re in a dead zone or not.
follow Tom’s Guide to Google News in the add us as a preferred source to get our latest news, analysis and reviews in your feeds.