US threatens Europe over Starlink rival

The US has threatened “devastating” measures over any potential threats to Elon Musk’s SpaceX and Starlink broadband-by-satellite system.

The US Ambassador to the European Union, Andrew Pazder, has warned that European companies could face harsh countermeasures from Washington, according to a report in the FT. The warning comes as Brussels pushes forward with plans to limit the access of American companies to certain segments of the European market.

The threats are seemingly in direct response to the move by four major European cellular telcos (Deutsche Telekom, Orange, Telefónica and Vodafone) to form a joint-venture to apply for transmission rights to satellite frequencies over Europe and which would allow their phone users to directly communicate with orbiting satellites. The four operators have signed a Letter of Intent to make a joint bid for Mobile Satellite Spectrum. The spectrum covers an upcoming auction of 2 GHz S-band spectrum which will be auctioned in 2027 and be available from mid-2027.

The quartet of telcos have made it clear that they do not intend to invest in their own satellites but will use a satellite partner still to be selected.

It is also known that US headquartered AST SpaceMobile is already in a partnership (Satellite Connect Europe) with Vodafone and which is based in Luxembourg. The joint venture is designed to distribute space-based mobile broadband, voice and text services to mobile operators across 21 European markets.

AST welcomed the move by the four telcos, saying: “Europe’s mobile network operators are taking an important step toward extending connectivity to every subscriber, wherever they live, work and travel,” said Wayne Thorsen, chief commercial officer of AST SpaceMobile. “Our role is to support our partners with the satellite technology, spectrum capabilities and ground infrastructure needed to deliver cellular broadband directly to the phones people already use. Together, we are building a third layer of connectivity that expands coverage and strengthens the resilience of Europe’s mobile networks.”

The new European consortium say that their agreement would not replace their existing satellite partnerships. Deutsche Telekom has been working with SpaceX’s Starlink Mobile and with Iridium on satellite D2D and IoT; Orange, Vodafone and Telefónica have various agreements with AST SpaceMobile as part of what began a Vodafone-AST SpaceMobile and Satellite Connect Europe.

The EU is looking to split the 2 GHz of spectrum into three segments. One segment for European military. Another for European-based commercial activity, and the third slice open to European and non-European bidders.

The European drive for a suitable rival to Starlink has helped drive the share prices of Eutelsat and SES, two satellite operators which are already playing an important part in Europe-wide connectivity.

One final fact is that Ukraine’s second-largest mobile operator VF Ukraine (Vodafone Ukraine, VFU) has signed a memorandum of understanding on deploying a space-based cellular broadband network in Ukraine with AST — a competitor of SpaceX, which has been working with Ukraine’s largest telecom operator Kyivstar since last year.

Categories: Blogs, Broadband, Inside Satellite, Satellite

Tags: Deutsche Telekom, Orange, starlink, telefonica, usa

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