Elon Musk It scores an important blow that could soon lead Starlink to revolutionize the mobile connectivity sector.
With an overall investment from 17 billion dollarsSpace X has acquired part of the radio spectrum, 50 MHz, by the US telecommunications company Echostar, with the aim of expanding and consolidating the “Direct to Cell” service offered through its satellites to guarantee broadband connectivity to mobile devices even in remote places not served by traditional terrestrial infrastructures.
In doing so, the Musk company can become a fearsome competitor for the three US giants of T-Mobile Telecommunications, AT & T and Verizon: proof of the fears that this investment has generated on the market, in the 24 hours following the spread of the news the T-Mobile shares have undergone a flex of 5%, slightly higher than that recorded by AT & T and Verizon (-4%).
The agreement, concluded shortly after the green light a Spacex by the Federal Communication Commission to offer satellite connections directly to traditional smartphones, it provides for the allocation of 17 billion dollars as a share of acquisition of AW-4 and H-Block frequencies, essential to enhance the Direct-to-Cell system. Not only that, given that a commercial collaboration with Boost Mobile, an operator controlled by Echostar, whose customers will also be able to take advantage of the benefits of direct satellite connection provided by Starlink, also includes the pact between the two parties.
For Echostar The agreement with Elon Musk proved to be fundamental, since the company sailed in bad waters having accumulated a debt of about 26.4 million dollars. For its part, thanks to the acquisition of this new licensed package, Spacex will progressively be free from the exclusive partnership signed last July with T-Mobile to guarantee customers of the telecommunications giant a coverage also in the areas not reached by traditional signals.
For now, the approximately 8 thousand Starlink satellites in orbit are 657 those already prepared for direct connection to mobile phones, thanks to which the Direct-to-Cell service in just a year and a half has already conquered an important market slice by serving about 6 million users on five continents. To date, with this technology, LTE phones do not require hardware or software changes to connect via satellite by areas not reached by traditional mobile networks. With the acquisition of the Echostar spectrum, however, devices equipped with chips compatible with the new frequencies may be necessary to be able to fully exploit the band made available by the constellation of satellites of second generationwhich will be clearly more performing than their predecessors.
Musk, whose goal is to
Generating a single system to bring together home and mobile internet, believes that they could want no less than two years to spread the service that promises to revolutionize the world of telecommunications in a widespread way.