(Photo by Nikolas Kokovlis/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
A group of European telecommunication companies is threatening to sue if SpaceX’s cellular Starlink system for phones is allowed to operate beyond normal radio emission limits.
On Monday, seven companies—including Vodafone, Telefonica, and Orange—sent a letter to the FCC, urging the US regulator to reject loosening its radio emission rules for SpaceX.
“We would be gravely concerned if the FCC were to support requests from the satellite sector to allow any relaxation in the safeguards to protect licensed terrestrial mobile network operators and their users from harmful interference,” the companies wrote.
The European telcos join other companies, including AT&T and Verizon, that claim SpaceX’s cellular Starlink system risks creating radio interference if the technology can exceed the emission limits. But in Monday’s letter, the European carriers took it a step further by raising the specter of waging a legal battle.
“Any relaxation that degrades the utility of spectrum that mobile operators have licensed from their respective national authorities, and which would undermine service quality and increase deployment costs, would be legal grounds for claiming damages,” the companies added.
(Photo by Thomas Banneyer/picture alliance via Getty Images)Vodafone and Telefonica didn’t respond to a request for comment, so it’s unclear what they would sue for and whether the lawsuit would target the FCC or SpaceX.
SpaceX also didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment. But the company has been asking the FCC for a waiver to exceed the radio emission limits so that the cellular Starlink system can provide robust coverage to US users, first through T-Mobile’s network.
Without the waiver, SpaceX has warned the FCC that its cellular Starlink system for phones will struggle to efficiently beam real-time voice and video calls. “That means Americans will continue to have no option for reliable, real-time communications in these (emergency) circumstances —undermining years of technical innovation and Commission efforts to bring these services to people and first responders as soon as possible,” the company told the FCC last month.
SpaceX has also said its cellular Starlink tech has been designed to prevent interference with ground-based networks. Presumably, the company would only need the waiver to exceed the radio emission limits when the Starlink satellites travel over the US.
Even so, the company is facing growing resistance. Carriers including AT&T and Verizon —along with Vodafone, Telefonica, and Orange— are backing a rival provider called AST SpaceMobile, which is also developing its own satellite system to serve users in cellular dead zones. Last month, AST SpaceMobile successfully launched its first five commercial satellites into orbit with the goal of starting a small-scale beta test as soon as December.
In contrast, SpaceX has already launched over 200 satellites for its cellular Starlink system. Once the company has 300 satellites in orbit—which could occur in a few months—it plans on kicking off a beta test for the technology in the US, initially to support satellite-based text messaging.