The latest FCC auction for 5G spectrum, ended after 73 bidding rounds and generating $427.7 million in overall bids – which is widely less than expected. Pre-auction estimates had, from some experts, been predicted to reach $3 billion. The auction (No. 108) covered the 2.5 GHz band and involved 7872 licences out of the 8017 […]
SpaceX continues to populate its mega-constellation of orbiting broadband craft continues. Its mission 4-23 Falcon 9 rocket took off on Aigust 27th from Landing Complex 40 from Cape Canaveral, Florida carrying 54 satellites weighing a combined 16 tonnes – the heaviest payload ever launched. Following launch the booster rocket landed flawlessly on to the ‘A […]
Brendan Carr, an FCC Commissioner, has come out with a strongly worded statement saying that the FCC was wrong to reverse its former granting of Elon Musk’s $886 million infrastructure award. The cash reflected SpaceX’s bid for part of the FCC’s massive $20.4 billion rural broadband subsidy scheme. Musk’s bid stated SpaceX would provide broadband […]
Elon Musk had, by now, hoped to be using the SpaceX Starship rocket to launch its Starlink satellites in significantly larger batches that the current 50 or so per flight. But various regulations have kept the Starship demo flights firmly on the ground. The delay in testing and launching Starships is impacting Musk’s plan to […]
Ligado Networks is planning a US terrestrial wireless system using L-band (1526-1536 MHz) and is hoping to start services on or after September 30th this year. However, there are allegations that its service is potentially interfering with GPS signals. London-based Inmarsat has some potentially valuable agreements with Ligado which uses Inmarsat spectrum over the US. […]
Intelsat has informed the FCC that it has lost overall control of its Galaxy 15 satellite probably as a result of a geomagnetic storm. It is the second time that the satellite has suffered problems in orbit. The official notification to the FCC says: “Galaxy 15 is currently authorized to operate at the 133.0° West […]
The FCC has turned down Elon Musk’s SpaceX request for an $886 million (€860m) grant as part of the US government’s massive $20.4 billion rural broadband subsidy scheme. The FCC had previously awarded the sum back in 2020, but that move has now been rejected. In a statement, the FCC said the FCC said that […]
The US’s Federal Communications Commission has opened bidding in its latest mid-band spectrum auction to support next generation wireless services – including 5G. Auction 108 makes available 8,017 new flexible-use, county-based overlay licences in the 2.5 GHz band. These licences are in areas with unassigned 2.5 GHz spectrum—mostly rural parts of the country—following disposition of […]
Terrestrial 5G telephony in the US wants to use the 12.2-12.7 GHz wireless band. The problem is that satellite operators also use the same frequencies. OneWeb, a would-be satellite constellation, in a letter to the Federal communications Commission (FCC) on July 11th argued that the FCC should reject Charlie Ergen’s Dish Network plans to use […]
Elon Musk’s Starlink broadband-by-satellite system can now be used for caravans, RVs, boat and aircraft operators thanks to the FCC’s decision to approve access to mobile services. “Authorising a new class of terminals for SpaceX’s satellite system will expand the range of broadband capabilities to meet the growing user demands that now require connectivity while […]