The Federal Communications Commission voted on Thursday, Oct. 29, to propose opening another 482 MHz of licensed spectrum to satellite service beamed straight to ordinary phones. It is a notice of proposed rulemaking, not a final rule. Public comment and a final vote come first.

What the proposal does

  • It would raise the number of bands eligible under the FCC's Supplemental Coverage from Space (SCS) framework from five to 13.
  • SCS was adopted in 2024. It lets carriers lease spectrum to satellite operators, which is how services like Starlink Mobile reach phones.
  • The FCC wants to loosen some geographic area and lease requirements. It is asking whether to replace them with adaptable licence areas and coexistence agreements.
  • Chairman Brendan Carr and Commissioners Anna Gomez and Olivia Trusty voted to adopt it.

The proposal is not written for SpaceX alone; it would apply to satellite operators generally. Teslarati and Drive Tesla Canada both note it could widen the path for Starlink Mobile to compete with the largest US carriers.

The carriers' objections

A day before the vote, AT&T, Verizon and T-Mobile asked the FCC to pull about 290 MHz out of the plan, Teslarati reported. In an Oct. 22 filing, their trade group CTIA asked the agency to drop time-division duplex bands including 2.5 GHz and 3.45 GHz. CTIA also opposed swapping leasing requirements for coexistence agreements, arguing carriers should keep control of their licensed spectrum. The FCC has not said whether those objections changed the band list.

SpaceX fires back at T-Mobile

In a separate FCC filing tied to the 2027 World Radiocommunication Conference (WRC-27), SpaceX objected to T-Mobile's proposed 400 km interference protection zone around cell towers near borders. SpaceX wrote that a "misplaced desire to harm a competitor has led many incumbents to oppose modernized rules that would bring direct-to-cell service to underserved border communities."

What's next

The rulemaking now goes to public comment. Expect more filings from both carriers and satellite operators before any final vote.