SpaceX FCC Broadband Feud vs. Dish, Michael Dell Affiliate Bad

Washington — Elon Musk’s SpaceX intensifies fight over broadband rules on Tuesday dish network and an ally of billionaire Michael Dell, is calling on the FCC to settle pending disputes over broadband use that could interfere with its Starlink satellite Internet network.

At the center of the controversy is the use of the 12-GHz band, a range of frequencies used for broadband communications, and the frequency’s ability to support both ground-based and space-based services.

In January 2021, the Federal Communications Commission issued a notice asking for comment on how best to use the 12-GHz band. Dish and RS Access, funded by Dell’s investment firm, published studies arguing that ground-based 5G networks could share frequency with low Earth orbit satellite networks, such as Starlink or OneWeb.

SpaceX on Tuesday filed its analysis of the Dish and RS Access studies, claiming it needed to correct “some of the most pressing assumptions,” arguing that Starlink users would see interference due to service outages for customers. . 74% of the time.”

Musk’s company called on the FCC to “investigate whether Dish and RS Access filed intentionally misleading reports,” noting that the studies did not match Dish’s findings two years ago, calling the sharing use “not viable.” “It was called.

A Dish spokesperson told CNBC that the company’s “expert engineers are evaluating SpaceX’s claims in the filing.”

SpaceX isn’t the only one opposing a possible expansion of 12-GHz usage. telecommunications companies, such as AT&Ttech giant Google And MicrosoftAs well as satellite network operators such as Intelsat, OneWeb and SES, all filed comments with the federal agency opposing the change.

Senior representatives for SpaceX told CNBC that the company hopes its analysis will persuade the FCC to see whether a decision in favor of Dish and RS Access equates to a potential threat to the company’s Starlink network.

“Leaving the proceedings open any longer cannot be justified for policy or technical reasons. In the six years the Commission has scuttled this proceeding, engineering countless hours for satellite operators to respond to trivial arguments by DISH and RS Access Time has been forced to pass,” David Goldman, senior director of SpaceX satellite policy, wrote in a letter to the FCC on Tuesday.

SpaceX has launched about 2,700 Starlink satellites into orbit so far, has about 500,000 users and its manufacturing line is producing about 30,000 satellite dishes per week.

The FCC declined a request for comment on CNBC’s expectation of issuing a decision on the 12-GHz band.

For years, Dish has argued that it would use its valuable spectrum rights. Recently, with the FCC deadline coming to an end, Dish launched its own “Project Genesis” network of 5G service, which the company says has met a government requirement to serve more than 20% of the US population. completed. Whether Dish’s network actually achieves that limit is debatable, As tested by The Verge of Service,

Goldman said, “Dish has not lived up to its repeated promises to deploy a new terrestrial network using special licenses already stored in its warehouses – the commission has been stymied by this track record of broken promises and trapped consumers.” cannot provide more spectrum to any operator,” Goldman SpaceX wrote in a letter to the FCC.

Dish did not immediately comment on Project Genesis Network in response to CNBC.

Dish has faced FCC repercussions over spectrum rights in the past. In an unrelated ruling by the US Court of Appeals on Tuesday, a federal judge upheld the FCC’s determination that Dish had “actual control” over two other companies, Bloomberg told, According to the report, the arrangement violated spectrum auction rules by obtaining $3.3 billion of bidding credits that were meant for small businesses.

Read SpaceX’s letter to the FCC here.