Elon Musk elaborates on those satellite-to-cell phone plans

SpaceX recently inked a deal with EchoStar to buy $17 billion worth of AWS-4 and H-block spectrum to connect cell phones directly to satellites. Conveniently (for us), Musk appeared at the All-In Summit, which featured other business leaders like Mark Cuban, that took place in Los Angeles this week. Video of Musk's appearance was uploaded to the YouTube channel of the All-In Podcast. The spectrum purchase signifies a long-term deal, he acknowledged, as the phones that support the frequencies that SpaceX is buying likely won’t be shipping for about two years. Chipsets need to be modified to accommodate the spectrum—and the satellites that use these frequencies also need to be launched. Is his vision to—eventually—build a phone that just works anywhere and everywhere? That could be one option. “To be clear, we’re not going to put the other carriers out of business. They’re still going to be around. They own a lot of spectrum,” he said.