The carriers tell the FCC that a SpaceX proposal to ensure robust coverage for its cellular Starlink system risks causing interference with their own networks.
A SpaceX proposal to ensure its cellular Starlink system offers robust coverage to users is facing opposition from AT&T and Verizon over concerns it’ll cause interference on their networks.
“Specifically, AT&T’s technical analysis shows that SpaceX’s proposal would cause an 18% average reduction in network downlink throughput,” the carrier claims.
This week, AT&T and Verizon sent letters to the FCC urging the agency to reject SpaceX’s plan for its cellular Starlink system. The pushback risks restricting SpaceX’s work on a fleet of satellites capable of beaming internet data to phones on the ground through radio signals.
To improve the technology, SpaceX in June requested a waiver from the FCC that would allow its cellular Starlink satellites to operate beyond normal radio frequency parameters, or what’s known as the “aggregate out-of-band emissions power flux-density limits.”
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