SpaceX FCC battles Dish, Michael Dell’s affiliate over broadband use

WASHINGTON – By Elon Musk SpaceX on Tuesday sparked a war over broadband regulations with Food network and an affiliate of billionaire Michael Dell, called on the Federal Communications Commission to resolve longstanding disputes over broadband use that could interfere with their Starlink satellite internet network.

At the heart of the dispute is the use of the 12 gigahertz band, a frequency band used for broadband communications, and the frequency’s ability to support both terrestrial and space services.

In January 2021, the FCC issued a notice requesting comment on the best use of the 12 gigahertz band. Dish and RS Access, funded by Dell’s investment firm, published studies arguing that 5G terrestrial networks could share frequencies with low-Earth orbit satellite networks, such as Starlink or OneWeb.

SpaceX submitted its own analysis of the Dish and RS Access studies on Tuesday, claiming to correct what it called “some of the most egregious assumptions” in the reports and suggesting that Starlink users would interfered to the point of causing service outages for customers “74 percent of the time.”

Musk’s company has called on the FCC to “investigate whether DISH and RS Access made statements that are intentionally misleading,” noting that the studies do not match findings from Dish two years earlier. so-called “unfeasible” use of sharing.

SpaceX is not alone in opposing the potential expansion using 12 gigahertz. Telecommunications companies, such as AT&Ttech giants Google and Microsoftas well as satellite network operators Intelsat, OneWeb and SES have all submitted comments to the FCC opposing the change.

A senior SpaceX representative told CNBC that the company hopes its response will prompt the FCC to reach a conclusion on the 12 gigahertz issue, describing the possibility of a decision in favor of Dish and RS Access as a concern. The threat is unlikely, but does exist, to the company’s Starlink. network.

“Leaving the proceedings open any longer simply cannot justify technical or policy reasons. For six years the Commission has let this procedure go bad, satellite operators was forced to spend countless technical hours reacting to the frivolous arguments of DISH and RS Access,” SpaceX senior director of satellite policy David Goldman wrote in a letter to the FCC today. Tuesday.

SpaceX has launched about 2,700 Starlink satellites into orbit to date, with nearly 500,000 users, and its production line produces about 30,000 satellite dishes per week.

The FCC did not immediately respond to a request for comment on when it expected to make a decision on the 12 gigahertz band.

For years, Dish argued that they would use their valuable common rights. Recently, with the FCC deadline approaching, Dish rolled out 5G service of its “Project Genesis” network, which the company says has responded to a government request to provide service to more than 20% of the US population. . Whether Dish’s network actually reaches that threshold is still up for debate, according to The Verge’s test of service.

“DISH has never delivered on its repeated promises to deploy a new terrestrial network using proprietary licenses already stored in its repository — the Commission simply did not. may donate more spectrum to any of these operators with a broken track record and stranded consumers,” Goldman wrote in SpaceX’s letter to the FCC.

Dish did not immediately return a request for comment from CNBC.

In the past, Dish has faced FCC consequences over popular rights. In an unrelated U.S. Court of Appeals ruling on Tuesday, a federal judge upheld the FCC’s decision that Dish held “de facto control” of two other companies, Bloomberg reported. According to the report, the deal violated universal auction rules by obtaining $3.3 billion in bidding credits intended for small businesses.

Read SpaceX’s letter to the FCC here.