T-Mobile and SpaceX get FCC approval for Satellite to Phone services

After years of review the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has finally granted SpaceX conditional approval to use its Starlink broadband satellites to keep T-Mobile smartphone users connected in cellular dead zones across the US as Starlinks Low Earth Orbit (LEO) satellite constellations and Elon Musks ambitions to be a dominant global telco provider take another giant step forwards.

SpaceX has permission to use T-Mobile’s cellular frequencies on up to 7,500 Gen2 Starlink satellites to provide Supplemental Coverage from Space (SCS), provided it does not interfere with other networks.

Of the more than 2,600 Gen2 Starlink satellites in low Earth orbit, around 320 are equipped with a direct-to-smartphone payload, enough to enable the texting services SpaceX has said it could launch this year.

The FCC deferred deciding whether to allow these satellites to increase their radio emission power, which SpaceX has said is needed to support higher bandwidth capabilities such as real-time voice and video calls.

The regulator said it is also continuing to defer considering whether to give SpaceX permission for the remaining 22,488 satellites in its proposed Gen2 constellation.

However, the FCC is allowing SpaceX to operate Gen2 spacecraft at lower altitudes, between 340 and 360 kilometers, down from 525-535 kilometers, to reduce latency.

Operating at these lower altitudes is subject to coordination with NASA to protect the International Space Station and other missions.

SpaceX also has around 4,100 Gen1 Starlink satellites in orbit, according to statistics maintained by astrophysicist Jonathan McDowell, with permission to operate up to 4,408 of them between around 540-570 kilometers.

Multiple satellite operators, including EchoStar, Omnispace, and Amazon’s Project Kuiper, had opposed SpaceX’s request to provide SCS services or operate at lower altitudes over interference concerns.

The conditional FCC approval comes after the regulator set ground rules for SCS services in March, relegating them as a secondary service to companies providing Mobile Satellite Services (MSS) with conventional frequencies already approved for use from space. This means an SCS operator must immediately cease operations if they interfere with an MSS provider or terrestrial telco with primary spectrum rights.

The approval for SpaceX and T-Mobile also follows a temporary FCC license to provide emergency connectivity in Florida and North Carolina after Hurricanes Milton and Helene knocked out terrestrial cell towers.

According to T-Mobile, the space-based service was used to broadcast 120 Wireless Emergency Alerts (WEA) in Florida from public safety agencies, hurricane warnings, evacuation notices, flood warnings, both in advance of Milton and when it made landfall.

“It also enabled over 100K SMS messages to be sent and received,” T-Mobile spokesperson Jai Ferguson said via email. Ferguson said T-Mobile was still digesting the FCC approval when asked for comment.

While this is the first satellite-terrestrial SCS partnership to get FCC approval, other companies have pending applications for review before the regulator, including AST SpaceMobile, which has partnered with AT&T and Verizon in the United States.

“This first-of-its-kind authorization is an exciting new development for the future of combined satellite and wireless communications,” FCC chair Jessica Rosenworcel said in a statement.

“And it won’t be the last. Thanks to the bipartisan framework we adopted earlier this year, the FCC is actively promoting competition in the space economy by supporting more partnerships between terrestrial mobile carriers and satellite operators to deliver on a Single Network Future that will put an end to mobile dead zones.”

The FCC approval also sets SpaceX up to provide direct-to-smartphone services in other countries, in coordination with local rules.

In addition to T-Mobile, SpaceX has announced cellular partnerships with Rogers (Canada), One NZ (New Zealand), KDDI (Japan), Optus (Australia), and Salt (Switzerland).