Why SPACEX made a bet of $ 17 billion on the direct market to the cell

Spacex just launched one of the largest shots so far in spectrum wars, and he agreed to pay 17 billion dollars To take over a large part of the Echostar wireless air waves for direct STARLINK services to the cell.

The deal is the most aggressive sign so far that Spacex wants to rule the satellite market to the phone.

The importance of selling, which sees Spacex pays a mix of $ 8.5 billion in cash and $ 8.5 billion in SpaceX shares, focuses on a limited resource: Spectrum. Spectrum refers to radio frequencies that carry wireless signals for everything from phone calls to text to GPS and satellite communications.

The US government is divided through the Federal Communications Committee, the spectrum into “teams”. There are only a lot of used frequencies, and users must coordinate to avoid overlap. To raise the risks higher, the domains only work well for phones and satellites, which reduce a range of usable teams further and create fierce competition to reach.

FCC auctions long -term licenses at high prices for private companies. The main cellular ranges have been collected mostly by national wireless transport companies, such as AT & T and Verizon, while current satellite operators such as IRIDIM and Globalstar keep separate ranges.

In 2024, the Federal Communications Committee (FCC) approved a new regulatory framework called additional coverage of space that paved the way for satellite to extend the carrier networks legally. SCS allows the satellite operator, in partnership with the Earth Medical Company, to use the company’s current phone spectrum to fill wireless coverage gaps as a secondary service. Later that year, Spacex officially started providing direct service to the cell to T-Mobile users as a distinct addition.

This frame paved the way for Spacex with Echostar. It has created a structure to allow satellite operators to take advantage of the ground networks .. Now, with the Echostar deal, Spacex does not need partnership with a license to the ground. Instead of relying on relationships with other companies, Spacex has become the license owner.

Of course, Spacex works in the field of building missiles and satellites, not mobile phones, so it still depends on devices and transport companies to reach hundreds of millions of consumers. But the CEO of Spacex Elousk has put forward the idea of ​​building a phone under his other works, X, which is what I merged with xi Earlier this year. Mush has particularly taken the target in the Apple continuous cooperation with Openai. In August, x and xi litigate Against the two companies, the competition practices are claimed.

Apple Satellite features such as SOS emergency are enabled through a partnership with the Canadian Globalstar Company, and Apple has adhered to more than $ 1.5 billion to expand iPhone services that support satellites. but Some analysts They wonder whether the Spacex movement is to benefit from persuading Apple to cooperate with Spacex instead of Globalstar.

This is not the first time that Spacex praises its muscles in the spectrum wars.

The company has successfully spent years in fighting the Echostar plate on the 12 GHz that SPACEX wanted to use in Starlink. It also enhances the lack of an echostar to use the AWS-4 range-one of the spectrum licenses that ended.

Separately, Spacex and Kuper also circulated in FCC files on the rules of overlap and how Megaconstellstells should participate in the competitive satellite spectrum.

It was also a major force pushing the Federal Communications Committee (FCC) to reconsider the satellite spectrum sharing rules. Earlier this year, the committee has opened an official status to update the boundaries of satellite participation after contacting from Spacex, with Koyber and others in support.