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The Federal Communications Commission has passed new rules intended to help run satellite internet services on today’s smartphones.
In a 5-0 vote on Thursday, the FCC adopted a “regulatory framework” for satellite operators to partner with mobile carriers and offer space-based cellular services in the US, particularly in areas without traditional cell towers.
SpaceX is already partnering with T-Mobile to bring a cellular Starlink service to the carrier’s customers later this year. AT&T is working with the startup AST SpaceMobile on a similar service.
The companies are still waiting for FCC approval to commercially launch their satellite-based cellular services. But the new regulatory framework promises to streamline the process. FCC Chair Jessica Rosenworcel said the US is now the first country “to adopt a framework that combines satellite and wireless service through supplemental coverage from space.”
“We have developed a framework that allows a satellite operator to partner with a terrestrial mobile carrier to get access to their terrestrial spectrum,” she said. “Then the satellite system can provide service directly to the subscribers of the wireless carrier in areas where the carrier lacks coverage. So there is no need to wait for new spectrum or a new generation of devices.”
In addition, the framework lets satellite providers tap existing radio spectrum to deliver the cellular services. But the satellite operators will need to lease radio spectrum from the mobile carrier for a geographic area. Meanwhile, technical rules have been put into place to prevent the satellite services from interfering with ground-based communications.
The FCC is hoping the framework paves the way for cooperation between wireless carriers and satellite operators, with the goal of delivering cellular services in dead zones. “This item has the potential to save lives by connecting people in hard-to-reach places,” Joel Taubenblatt, Chief of the Wireless Telecommunications Bureau, said before Thursday’s vote.