SpaceX makes big spectrum land grab

EchoStar is just one of many satellite companies battling SpaceX over spectrum. In various proceedings at the Federal Communications Commission, SpaceX has clashed with Globalstar, Ligado and Viasat in addition to its well-publicized fight to get hold of EchoStar’s 2 GHz/AWS-4 spectrum. One could argue SpaceX is going to war with the entire wireless industry in the upper C-band proceeding now unfolding at the FCC. The upper C-band spectrum, at 3.98-4.2 GHz, is right next to the 3.7 GHz C-band spectrum that Verizon and AT&T are rolling out for their 5G services. Why is SpaceX so eager to get its hands on more spectrum? According to EchoStar, SpaceX already has access to about 25,500 megahertz of spectrum, without paying a single dime to the U.S. Treasury. EchoStar believes SpaceX is on a mission to cripple EchoStar’s ability to offer a direct-to-device (D2D) service. That EchoStar service has barely gotten off the ground. That same reasoning could apply to pretty much every other D2D wannabee out there, regardless of how far along they are in their endeavors to provide satellite coverage to everyday, unmodified cell phones.