Analyst Sees Staged Rollout of SpaceX D2D Service

SpaceX won't own the direct-to-device marketplace, due to the complexities and dependencies around regulation, spectrum uses and mobile value chains, Analysys Mason's Chris Baugh blogged Monday. However, SpaceX is leading the race to provide D2D commercial service, he noted. Baugh said that while SpaceX has indicated it plans to launch D2D service in Q4, that rollout will likely start in northern regions as did the Starlink broadband rollout. He said SpaceX could provide continuous coverage in the northern continental U.S. with 300 satellites, though southern U.S. coverage would be spotty. He said 800 satellites would likely provide 18/7 Mbps peak channel speeds for all user equipment in a beam area.