The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) said it would allow SpaceX to boost signals in partner T-Mobile’s spectrum as long as it did not interfere with competing networks. SpaceX said the previous ban was reducing service quality and coverage, depriving people in sparsely populated areas of cell service.
A month ago, the American operator T-Mobile began free beta testing of the Starlink satellite cellular service from SpaceX. According to the first reviews, this service, which provides a direct connection to the cellular network via satellites (Direct-to-Cell), cannot yet boast stability. It is enough to transmit short messages, but video calls and streaming video are “slow”, which SpaceX associates, first of all, with insufficient signal strength of the satellites.
SpaceX filed an FCC application to boost its signal strength about a year ago. Rival carriers Verizon and AT&T, which is building its own satellite cellular network with startup AST SpaceMobile, have publicly opposed the waivers for SpaceX, saying it could interfere with ground-based cell towers and degrade service across the country.
In response, SpaceX presented technical studies confirming that increasing signal strength would not exceed safe interference levels. At the same time, the move is important to ensure reliable communications in emergency situations and to expand mobile coverage in underserved areas.
The approval to boost signal power follows the FCC’s November decision to allow SpaceX to use T-Mobile’s frequencies on 7,500 second-generation Starlink satellites for supplemental coverage from space (SCS), which provided emergency communications to thousands of people affected by Hurricane Helena.
Image source: T-Mobile
At the time, the FCC had delayed a decision on allowing the satellites to operate at higher power levels, an upgrade that could have expanded SpaceX’s services to support real-time voice and video calls beyond text messages and SOS communications.
«“The Commission has determined that the deployment of SCS will serve an important purpose of public interest to the nation by extending the reach of communications services, including emergency services, to more remote areas,” the FCC said in a statement. The regulator also noted that SpaceX emphasized the critical importance of this authorization to the large-scale deployment of SCS and to provide faster, more reliable voice communications in remote locations.
SpaceX and T-Mobile’s free Direct-to-Cell beta will run through the summer, after which the companies will announce rates for satellite cellular communications. Currently, the equipment for communicating with smartphones from space is installed on 500 Starlink satellites out of more than 7,000 devices in low Earth orbit. The constellation is not yet complete, and the quality of communication will continue to improve.