European telecom operators threaten to sue SpaceX as soon as Starlink launches cellular communications via satellite

SpaceX continues to come under attack from potential competitors, which have now been joined by European cellular operators. Recently, seven companies, including Vodafone, Telefonica and Orange, sent a letter to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), urging the American regulator to abandon the idea of ​​weakening rules in the field of radio frequency licensing for SpaceX.

Image source: T-Mobile

SpaceX’s new idea – to cover the entire Earth not only with an Internet network, but also with a satellite mobile communications network – has caused a storm of opposition from direct and potential competitors. Rivals fear that SpaceX’s dominance of satellite Internet services and future services as a global satellite telecom operator will rapidly expand.

«We would be seriously concerned if the FCC were to support requests from the satellite industry to allow any relaxation of safeguards to protect licensed landline mobile carriers and their users from harmful interference,” the companies wrote.

It should be said that Vodafone, Telefonica and Orange, as well as their American colleagues AT&T and Verizon, are betting on another company in the field of next-generation global satellite Internet communications – AST SpaceMobile. Like SpaceX, AST SpaceMobile plans to provide coverage to remote areas where it is not possible or cost-effective to place conventional cell towers. Both companies expect to begin beta testing the technology before the end of 2024. But this is not enough, SpaceX says. In order for communication to work fully and without delays even in remote places on the planet, it is necessary, at a minimum, to increase the signal strength from satellites.

The problem is that an increase in transmission power is guaranteed to lead to an increase in radio interference in adjacent channels (bands). No matter how hard engineers try, operating frequencies, for example, in the form of harmonics, always fall into neighboring ones. According to SpaceX, Starlink equipment was designed to prevent this kind of interference, but in practice it cannot be completely eliminated. This isn’t really a problem. But if SpaceX is allowed to increase the radiation power over the United States (which the FCC is directly involved in), then competitors may need a relatively simple, perhaps even software, adjustment of the equipment? and this issue is already being studied.

«Any dilution that reduces the utility of spectrum that mobile operators have licensed from their respective national authorities, and which will undermine the quality of service and increase deployment costs, will be a legal basis for a claim for damages,” the companies added. However, it is not clear from the letter who will be subpoenaed: representatives of SpaceX or the FCC. There were no comments on this matter at the time of publication of the news.

AT&T and Verizon were the first to report the possibility of radio interference from the Starlink satellite cellular network to the FCC. They did not threaten the regulator with legal action. European companies turned out to be bolder and announced the possibility of requesting compensation for damage. Most likely, we are still talking about a threat to sue SpaceX. It remains to increase the Starlink cellular constellation to 300 satellites, which will take two to three months, and the company will launch testing in the United States of a text messaging service from ordinary smartphones through space. Its competitor, AST SpaceMobile, also expects to begin beta testing of its own satellite communication networks using regular smartphones in December. Only the beginning of testing will show whether Starlink channels interfere with other operators or not.