FCC Decision on SpaceX/T-Mobile D2D Offering Seems Imminent

Broad FCC approval of a SpaceX/T-Mobile direct-to-device commercial service should come soon, some agency watchers say. The FCC earlier this month gave the two special temporary authority to provide service in areas affected by hurricanes Helene and Milton (see 2410070049 and 2410100054). With that and AT&T and SpaceX seemingly agreeing on how the D2D service could operate in the near term without interfering with AT&T's terrestrial wireless operations (see 2410210002), "I'm a little surprised" the FCC hasn't given the green light yet, spectrum and satellite consultant Tim Farrar told us. The commission didn't comment. Its Space Bureau late last year approved limited supplemental coverage from space operations in G-block spectrum so SpaceX satellites' antennas for D2D service could be checked (see 2312050029).

Out-of-band emissions interference issues have been a major stumbling block in SpaceX and T-Mobile receiving approval, said Frank Rayal, co-founder of telecom advisory firm Xona Partners. He said it's unclear whether the FCC ultimately will go with SpaceX's request for less-restrictive power limits. SpaceX could operate under existing power limits, but would lose throughput and have less capability to offer more data-intensive D2D services such as voice, he said. Meanwhile, lower power limits would mean AT&T and Verizon lose capacity on bands adjacent to T-Mobile bands due to interference, he added. AT&T and Verizon also wouldn't likely accept different power levels for competitive reasons, as both are partnering with SpaceX rival AST SpaceMobile for D2D service, he said. AST's satellites, with much larger antennas, can control interference more precisely than SpaceX, he said: But AT&T and Verizon have such deep wells of spectrum access the FCC might be willing to make that trade-off.

SpaceX activated emergency SMS messaging for Hurricane Milton-impacted areas in less than 24 hours, SpaceX Senior Director-Satellite Engineering Ben Longmier posted Saturday on X. He said the company should be able to get that reaction time "down to tens of minutes" for areas between the 58th north and south latitudes. He said Starlink D2D service will start with texting later this year, "near continuous light data in 2025, and continuous broadband data and voice later on." The service will feature almost-instantaneous messaging and coverage of entire countries, while other services "take 60+ seconds, require pointing a phone, or are simply spot beams in small locations with hour long gaps in coverage."

LightShed Partners' Walt Piecyk posted on X last week, "With hundreds of thousands of successful space-to-phone texts under temporary approval, T-Mobile and Starlink should now receive full FCC authorization nationwide." He said SpaceX is likely willing to accept current power restrictions and revisit the matter in several years when it has a different technology mix in orbit. He said the FCC will likely act on that request before November's election. In the meantime, he said, AST and Globalstar would have a longer window to capture market share.