SpaceX accuses European telcos of bullying

In a filing with the FCC, the Elon Musk-owned low earth orbit (LEO) operator accused Vodafone, Orange, Telefonica and a handful of others of bullying after they jointly penned a missive urging the US regulator to resist the temptation to relax safeguards currently protecting traditional mobile networks. Specifically, the operators are concerned about the high-power levels of SpaceX's direct-to-device offering that has captured headlines in recent months and is now not too far from commercial launch.

Essentially, the telcos are jumping on a bandwagon already set in motion by AT&T and Verizon. In August the two US operators separately petitioned the FCC to deny a request from SpaceX for a waiver on power rules, claiming such a move could create harmful interference to terrestrial mobile networks.

While they may well have a point, the story there was not so much about the power issue as it was rivalry in the space-based communications space. Major competitor T-Mobile US has with much fanfare teamed up with SpaceX and the pair plan to launch a direct-to-device service sooner rather than later.

That's the aim, at least. They have gone quiet on talk of launching a direct-to-device text messaging service before the end of this year, which suggests that timescale is in some doubt. Voice and data offerings were due to follow sometime next year, which might still be do-able.

AT&T and Verizon, meanwhile, have teamed up with smaller outfit AST SpaceMobile for LEO-based direct-to-device satellite connectivity. But with AST having launched its first five direct-to-smartphone satellites as recently as a month ago, while SpaceX already has 175-plus in orbit, they are some way behind.

And as far as SpaceX is concerned, AST is masterminding this regulatory campaign against it, including mobilising its European partners to get involved.

The joint filing from the European telcos was signed by Liberty Global, Orange, PPF Telecom Group, Telefonica, Telenor, United Group and Vodafone; AST SpaceMobile was not on the list, nor was it named in the filing, but the operators referenced an earlier submission from AT&T on the subject of power.

AT&T and Vodafone are among AST SpaceMobile's strategic investors, while Orange and Telefonica are among its named operator partners.

"We welcome the prospects of supplemental coverage from space, and the leadership the FCC has shown in this area, but in the interests of Europe's mobile customers, network operators and service providers, D2D solutions must respect the established -120 dBW/m2/MHz limit, and satellite providers must work to comply with this requirement before they could be authorised," the operators stated in the filing.

There was also a suggestion that lawyering up could be on the cards,

"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," they said.

While the European telcos stuck to their message that waiver request, SpaceX's response was far less clinical and much more personal.

"Apparently not content with solely harming competition in America, AST is now taking its misinformation campaign overseas by recruiting its European investors and partners to parrot its talking points and harm competition there as well," it reads.

"Tellingly, just like AST investor AT&T's specious advocacy, these AST supporters provide zero technical support for their opposition to SpaceX's out-of-band emissions waiver," SpaceX claimed, insisting that that waiver request is based on firm technical, legal and public interest grounds.

"Ultimately, the joint activity of AST's European investors and partners should sound alarm bells. While European national administrations and competition authorities are in the best position to decide whether AST is inappropriately colluding to stymie competitive entry in European markets, the Commission should not bow to AST's investors' and partners' unfounded legal threats," Space X said.

"The Commission cannot accept these foreign operators' attempt to bully the Commission into putting itself into the position of other administrations. Instead, the Commission should continue to respect the sovereignty of other administrations and allow them to make their own technical judgments about whether AST is promoting an out-of-band emissions rule that finds no technical basis and would needlessly harm consumers and first responders."

There's more, but it's all very much in the same vein.

SpaceX has a lot at stake here: satellites don't come cheap and it has already spent heavily on deploying them, with many more in the pipeline. It's understandable therefore that it is frustrated at encountering yet more hurdles on its route to commercial launch and – eventually – ROI. It will need more operator partners further down the line; indeed, the company has openly called for new partners a number of times over the past year or so, But it won't have made many friends on the back of that FCC statement.