Starlink spectrum deal boosts Musk plan to beat AT&T, T-Mobile, and Verizon

SpaceX has been claiming for months that Starlink Mobile will eventually offer better service than AT&T, T-Mobile, and Verizon. SpaceX previously focused on partnering with carriers and providing them with satellite coverage for dead spots in their terrestrial networks. Stock prices for AT&T, T-Mobile, Verizon, and satellite company AST SpaceMobile fell sharply today in response to SpaceX’s spectrum deal.

SpaceX’s partner for mobile service in the US is T-Mobile, and the space company leased 10 MHz of nationwide mid-band spectrum from T-Mobile as part of that deal. With this week’s Grain deal, SpaceX is buying former T-Mobile spectrum in order to compete against the giant wireless carrier.

CEO Elon Musk said in August that Starlink would deploy many small base stations instead of “expensive and difficult-to-locate large cellular base stations.” He said the Starlink broadband antennas on the roofs of houses and businesses can help provide connectivity to cellphones.

SpaceX yesterday submitted a filing that asks the FCC to approve the low-band purchase. It said the deployment “will rely on radios feeding sectorized antennas on towers, rooftops, and other structures, configured to provide reliable signal coverage and meaningful broadband service. The propagation characteristics of 800 MHz (long-range coverage, strong performance against terrain and clutter, and superior building penetration) make this paired low-band spectrum an efficient coverage layer for markets of all sizes and densities, including areas where higher-frequency networks cannot serve.”

New satellites

SpaceX has launched 650 Direct-to-Device satellites for its current mobile service and plans to launch up to 15,000 next-generation satellites for a more powerful version. The FCC approved the 15,000-satellite application on Tuesday.

“The V2 Starlink Mobile satellites will deliver more than 100 times the bandwidth of our current generation, bringing high-speed service directly to unmodified devices anywhere in the world,” SpaceX said yesterday. “Additionally, the FCC authorized the full range of backhaul bands (in Ka/V/E/W) used by Starlink’s V3 broadband satellites, enabling them to operate with the existing Starlink gateway network.”

SpaceX said that once it deploys all its spectrum and launches next-generation satellites, it will be able to offer US residents “a reliable service indoors, outdoors, in cellular dead zones, and everywhere in between.” SpaceX previously told the Canadian government in a filing that it “will begin launching its next-generation Starlink direct-to-device satellites with service beginning by late 2027,” and launch “thousands more satellites” by the end of 2028.