SpaceX Faces Opposition on Opening 2 GHz, 1.6/2.4 GHz Bands

Opening the 2 GHz band and the 1.6/2.4 GHz band to more satellite operators won't happen without a fight from incumbent satellite operators in those bands. SpaceX is pushing for such openings (see 2403270002). EchoStar and Globalstar argued against amending the rules governing those bands in comments posted Monday. The FCC Space Bureau in March rejected SpaceX requests to operate in the bands but put on public notice SpaceX petitions about amending the rules governing the bands.

Incumbents considerably underutilized the 2 GHz and 1.6/2.4 GHz big low earth orbit band, SpaceX said. It said the two licensees in the 2 GHz band, which Dish Network owns, have yet to initiate 2 GHz mobile satellite service (MSS) operations there, while other satellite operators "stand ready to fill the gap." SpaceX said a rulemaking proceeding would resolve any questions about how multiple operators could share the band. The sole incumbent in the big LEO band, Globalstar, "has effectively abandoned the U.S. license that the Commission entrusted to it years ago" by using a few satellites "to deliver worse-than-dial-up speeds," SpaceX said. Globalstar arguments about possible interference to its operations in the band are hyperbolic because "plenty of spectrum remains available for sharing." Rather than interference, "Globalstar’s real fear is real competition after decades of de facto monopoly and increasing disuse" of the band, SpaceX said.

SpaceX's petitions would "upend" the FCC's current MSS licensing and sharing frameworks in the 2 GHz and 1.6/2.4 GHz bands "based on unsubstantiated assertions that doing so would somehow lead to greater 'efficiency,'" said the Mobile Satellite Service Association. MSSA said it was a "transparent attempt by one company to continue to over consume spectral and orbital resources and foreclose opportunities for others to access and use those resources." It said SpaceX already has access to sizable spectrum resources.

Dish parent EchoStar and Globalstar said no one had shown evidence that opening the 2 GHz and big LEO bands to more satellite operators could be done without harming their incumbent services. That lack of evidence about any new technologies that would make multiple-operator sharing feasible in the 2 GHz band should end the proceeding, EchoStar said. It said the ubiquitous deployment of its 5G broadband network and terrestrial downlink waiver makes separate MSS and terrestrial operator sharing in the band infeasible.

The existing regulatory framework for the big LEO band "has been extraordinarily successful" and there is no call for modifying the licensing framework, Globalstar said. It said it "robustly" uses its big LEO MSS spectrum allocation. It said granting SpaceX's wish would "unfairly tilt the direct-to-device playing field in favor of SpaceX" and its supplemental coverage from space services.

Backing SpaceX's 1.6./2.4 GHz rulemaking proposal, Kepler said a rulemaking would be "the ideal forum" for considering adding operators to the band without notably harming incumbent operations and for setting robust and clear standards for spectrum sharing in the band.