AT&T, T-Mobile, and Verizon have teamed up to try to stop an FCC proposal that could free up more radio spectrum to SpaceX’s upcoming challenger, Starlink Mobile.
Representatives for the carriers met with FCC officials this week and urged them to amend the proposal, according to a regulatory filing spotted by SpaceX and Tesla watcher Sawyer Merritt.
The FCC’s proposal, slated for a vote next week, could open 482MHz of spectrum for satellite-to-phone services, including Starlink Mobile. Elon Musk’s company has already acquired about 80MHz of spectrum for its carrier ambitions, but analysts say SpaceX needs significantly more, as each of the big three carriers has about 300MHz in spectrum.
However, AT&T, Verizon, and T-Mobile are now calling on the FCC to drop the 2.5GHz and 3.45GHz bands from the proposal, removing 290MHz, citing the threat of interference to their 5G networks. T-Mobile uses the 2.5GHz bands while AT&T operates in the latter. Importantly, both carriers use the frequencies in a Time Division Duplexing (TDD) scheme, where the cell towers and phones share the radio bands for both sending and receiving data.
The wireless trade group that represents the carriers, CTIA, wrote the 10-page regulatory filing, and warned that opening the bands to “secondary” satellite services “raises fundamental technical and interference challenges” that remain unresolved. “Today, more than 300 million users rely on these bands for wireless services, and they should not have their service compromised by technically unworkable changes,” the filing says.
Earlier this week, T-Mobile filed its own complaint, claiming that its 5G service would degrade if a satellite flew overhead using the same spectrum. The carriers have also asked the FCC to “reaffirm” the exclusivity and protection of their ground-based cellular licenses and investments as the Commission considers new regulations to bolster satellite-to-phone services.
(Credit: T-Mobile)
The filing questions why the FCC wants to change the current framework for satellite-to-phone communications. The carriers say the commission “should instead seek comment on how existing arrangements have worked and the costs and benefits of revising” the FCC’s approach to regulating satellite-to-phone services. Another recommendation is for the FCC to “seek comment on whether the public interest requires that the same performance metrics be applied regardless of the ultimate mobile architecture chosen by a licensee.”
The CTIA’s CEO, former FCC Chairman Ajit Pai, is also weighing in. A separate regulatory filing says Pai met with the current chairman, Brendan Carr, and urged the FCC to drop the spectrum bands from the satellite proposal, citing the need to preserve “the world-leading wireless service that US consumers and businesses rely on.”
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“As a guiding principle, secondary satellite operations should not be introduced into 5G time-division duplex ‘workhorse’ bands, including the 2.5 GHz and 3.45 GHz bands, given the well-recognized synchronization and interference risks,” Pai’s filing says.
It’s not the first time the big three carriers have teamed up against SpaceX. In May, all three announced a joint venture to pool their spectrum to potentially foster competition in the satellite connectivity market, which many experts saw as a counter to SpaceX’s cellular ambitions.
Still, SpaceX’s plan to turn Starlink Mobile into a fourth major carrier has already caused all three companies’ stock values to take a dive. On Thursday, news emerged that SpaceX also wants access to 80,000 cell sites across the US. Meanwhile, the FCC has been creating a regulatory path for the company to become a major carrier, noting it promises to unleash more competition and benefit consumers.
About Our Expert
Michael Kan
Principal Reporter
Experience
I’ve been a journalist for over 15 years. I got my start as a schools and cities reporter in Kansas City and joined PCMag in 2017, where I cover satellite internet services, cybersecurity, PC hardware, and more. I’m currently based in San Francisco, but previously spent over five years in China, covering the country’s technology sector.
Since 2020, I’ve covered the launch and explosive growth of SpaceX’s Starlink satellite internet service, writing 600+ stories on availability and feature launches, but also the regulatory battles over the expansion of satellite constellations, fights with rival providers like AST SpaceMobile and Amazon, and the effort to expand into satellite-based mobile service. I’ve combed through FCC filings for the latest news and driven to remote corners of California to test Starlink’s cellular service.
I also cover cyber threats, from ransomware gangs to the emergence of AI-based malware. In 2024 and 2025, the FTC forced Avast to pay consumers $16.5 million for secretly harvesting and selling their personal information to third-party clients, as revealed in my joint investigation with Motherboard.
I also cover the PC graphics card market. Pandemic-era shortages led me to camp out in front of a Best Buy to get an RTX 3000. I’m now following how the AI-driven memory shortage is impacting the entire consumer electronics market. I’m always eager to learn more, so please jump in the comments with feedback and send me tips.
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