Deep Dive: SpaceX's Carrier Playbook Meets Europe's 2 GHz Rules
SpaceX bought its way to US carrier status. In Europe, the 2 GHz MSS rules reserve two of three blocks for EU operators and freeze incumbents' rights during the bridge.
SpaceX’s Carrier Playbook Meets Europe’s 2 GHz Rules
In one week SpaceX added two pieces to a United States mobile network it means to run in its own name. The European Commission’s proposal for the 2 gigahertz satellite band would cap any commercial applicant at a third of the band and, if adopted in time, bar the current license holders from passing their rights on during an optional two-year bridge, which is when EchoStar’s European rights are due to reach SpaceX.
6 × 5 MHz
Paired 5 megahertz blocks in the Commission’s proposal for the 2 gigahertz satellite band: two secure, two with priority for EU newcomers, two open.
2x10 MHz
The most any single commercial applicant could hold under the proposal, a third of the band.
May 2027
Expiry of the 2009 EU authorizations held by Viasat and EchoStar, and 13 May in the United Kingdom.
30 Nov 2027
Target date for the closing that transfers EchoStar’s international rights to SpaceX, according to EchoStar’s filings.
In one week, SpaceX added two pieces to a mobile network it means to run in its own name in the United States. On 6 October the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) authorized up to 15,000 direct-to-device (D2D) satellites for its next-generation Starlink Mobile system, and on 8 October SpaceX agreed to buy Grain Management’s nationwide 800 megahertz (MHz) spectrum for a terrestrial layer, a transfer the FCC has yet to approve. In Europe, the same company faces a different rulebook. The European Commission’s proposal for the 2 gigahertz (GHz) Mobile Satellite Service (MSS) band, which partly overlaps the US spectrum authorized for Starlink Mobile, would cut the band into six paired 5 MHz blocks, reserve two primarily for a secure system run by an operator controlled in the European Union (EU), and give EU newcomers priority on two more. If the regulation is adopted in time, the current license holders, Viasat and EchoStar, could keep their rights through a two-year bridge, on request, but could not transfer or lease them during it. EchoStar’s filings target November 2027 for the transfer of its international rights to SpaceX, which would fall inside that bridge. Deutsche Telekom, Orange, Telefónica and Vodafone are reported to be discussing a joint bid, and the United Kingdom (UK) regulator, Ofcom, is running its own process on its own timetable.
Can SpaceX launch Starlink Mobile in Europe?
It can as a supplier to mobile operators, and under the Commission’s current proposal it is unlikely to hold European satellite spectrum in its own name before 2029. SpaceX’s direct-to-cell service already runs in the UK through Virgin Media O2, and Deutsche Telekom plans to offer the next-generation service in several European markets from 2028, both on the operators’ own mobile spectrum. To use the 2 GHz MSS band directly, SpaceX would most likely have to win spectrum on the commercial track open to applicants from outside the EU, which covers two of the band’s six 5 MHz blocks, with any commercial applicant capped at 2x10 MHz and subject to security conditions. The proposal still has to pass the European Parliament and the Council, and new rights are not expected before 2029.
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- 01What SpaceX assembled in the US
- 02Europe’s 2 GHz band in May 2027
- 03Does SpaceX inherit EchoStar’s rights?
- 04What 2x10 MHz buys
- 05Europe’s carriers on both sides
- 06The leverage SpaceX keeps
- 07Is the UK the back door?
- 08What to watch
- Verdict
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