SpaceX, Dish Network and other 5G providers are fighting an intense battle over radio frequencies, which SpaceX says it needs for its orbital internet service, Starlink, and which Dish says it needs for its own customers.
SpaceX is claiming that if federal regulators allow 5G wireless networks to use a certain spectrum band, it could cause widespread disruption for its Starlink internet customers. Spectrum, in this case, refers to a range of radio frequencies. Federal regulators closely guard which companies are authorized to use which frequencies so that the signals don’t interfere with each other. In a statement, SpaceX targeted Dish Network, which, while known primarily as a satellite TV company, also has a cellular network.
SpaceX alleges that Dish tried to “cheat” the Federal Communications Commission, which allocates spectrum usage between telecom companies, and filed a “flawed analysis” in an attempt to prove that allowing Dish to expand its 5G network would not affect Starlink users. When approached for comment, Dish said only that its “Expert engineers are evaluating SpaceX’s claims in the filing“.
At the root of the impasse is the 12 GHz band, a slice of radio frequencies that are used primarily for services like Starlink and its satellite internet competitor OneWeb. In a inflammatory letter to the FCC, SpaceX’s senior director of satellite policy , David Goldstein, writes that “no reasonable engineer” could believe the studies presented by Dish and its allies. It also urges the FCC to investigate whether Dish Network and RS Access, another wireless provider, “filed intentionally misleading reports.”
SpaceX has conducted its own analysis that claims to “correct some of the blatant assumptions” made in the Dish and RS Access studies. In a statement, the company said:
“If Dish’s lobbying efforts are successful, our study shows that Starlink customers will experience harmful interference over 77% of the time and total service interruption 74% of the time, making Starlink unusable for most users. Americans.”
The 5Gfor12GHz Coalition – an industry stakeholder group that includes wireless providers like Dish – said its engineers are also reviewing the filing.”in depth” e “remain committed to working in good faith with the FCC and stakeholders to ensure that the American public is able to reap the immense benefits of 5G services in this band.“
The Coalition pointed to a study by an independent company that found that 99.85% of customers using Starlink and similar services “will experience 0 harmful interference with 5G.” The FCC did not immediately respond to a request for comment. FCC Chair Jessica Rosenworcel, a Democrat, called this case “one of the most complex processes we have” at a House hearing in March. According to her:
“It’s going to take a lot of technical work to ensure that radio waves can accommodate all these different uses without harmful interference.” I can assure you that we have our best engineers evaluating this now.”
Spectrum rights battles like this are nothing new. Satellite and telecom companies often fight each other over what they consider the most desirable spectrum bands. The current standoff over the 12GHz spectrum band has been going on for over a year now, and it’s a separate issue from 5G battles over C-band spectrum or a recent scare over airplane interference.
Dish has already attacked SpaceX, saying its plans to put Starlink terminals on moving vehicles are illegal and could interfere with Dish’s satellite TV customers. The company had about 8.2 million wireless subscribers in May and expects to dramatically expand that business. Public records revealed earlier this year that SpaceX has over 400,000 Starlink customers worldwide.
This article is a translation of the writing by Jackie Wattles to the website CNN Business.
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The SpaceX post says 5G expansion would make Starlink ‘unusable’ in the US first appeared on DNEWS.