{"id":944198,"date":"2026-05-07T16:53:19","date_gmt":"2026-05-07T16:53:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/944198\/"},"modified":"2026-05-07T16:53:19","modified_gmt":"2026-05-07T16:53:19","slug":"fcc-chair-starlink-isnt-enough-we-need-at-least-3-satellite-to-phone-services","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/944198\/","title":{"rendered":"FCC Chair: Starlink Isn’t Enough. We Need at Least 3 Satellite-to-Phone Services"},"content":{"rendered":"

The FCC chair, who has\u00a0gone out of his way<\/a>\u00a0to laud SpaceX\u2019s connectivity from space and sometimes\u00a0critique its rivals,<\/a>\u00a0said Wednesday that the market for direct-to-phone service needs more than one competitor to Starlink.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe think the market wants to be, should be, at least three facilities-based providers,\u201d Brendan Carr opined at a conference in Washington<\/a> hosted by the wireless trade group CTIA.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Today, US options for more-than-messaging cellular satellite service stop at SpaceX\u2019s Starlink roaming<\/a>. It’s limited to a select set of apps<\/a>\u00a0and has seen\u00a0less uptake among T-Mobile subscribers<\/a>\u00a0than the carrier expected after inking its deal with SpaceX in 2022<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Two other startups provide messaging only, Skylo<\/a> and Globalstar<\/a>, but Carr used an onstage conversation with CTIA President and CEO (and former FCC chair<\/a>) Ajit Pai to give a shout-out to two other companies aspiring to offer data from low-Earth-orbit satellites: Amazon and AST SpaceMobile.<\/p>\n

The former aims to provide satellite broadband from its Amazon Leo constellation via compact antennas<\/a> starting in the middle of this year<\/a>. But it also just announced plans to acquire Globalstar<\/a> and leverage its assets to offer direct-to-cell service later on.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The latter, meanwhile, has already signed up\u00a0AT&T<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0Verizon<\/a>\u00a0as customers for the smaller constellation of larger satellites\u00a0it aims to put into service by the end of the year. AST\u2019s ambitions<\/a>, however, got set back when a Blue Origin<\/a>-built New Glenn rocket<\/a> failed to deliver its seventh BlueBird satellite<\/a> into a viable orbit last month. Carr joked about that: \u201cThey’re launching satellites, usually in the right orbit, sometimes not.\u201d<\/p>\n

On Wednesday, AST announced<\/a> plans to launch its next three satellites on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket, underscoring the outsized role of Elon Musk\u2019s space company<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Carr\u2019s own conduct as FCC chair<\/a> has yielded additional evidence of that. Last April, he told European telcos to choose Starlink over Chinese alternatives<\/a>, and this February, the FCC fast-tracked SpaceX\u2019s application<\/a> to launch up to 1 million data-center satellites<\/a>.<\/p>\n

On Tuesday, Carr tweeted<\/a> that the FCC was wrong to yank an $886 million broadband-buildout award<\/a> from SpaceX in 2022 on the grounds that Starlink could not meet speed requirements throughout its service areas and would cost too much.\u00a0Starlink lost an appeal of that rejection a year later<\/a>, when speed tests from Ookla (owned by PCMag\u2019s parent firm Ziff Davis) showed median download speeds of 64.5Mbps, well below the 100Mbps specified under that grant program<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Recommended by Our Editors<\/p>\n

As Carr noted, the latest data from Ookla\u2019s Speedtest app<\/a> show median downloads of 127Mbps and median uploads of 21Mbps across the US. SpaceX\u2019s residential broadband<\/a> does remain expensive outside promotional discounts<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Carr used the rest of his brief appearance at the end of the CTIA Summit to tout the FCC\u2019s accomplishments over the last year.\u00a0For example, he noted that the FCC is back in the business of freeing up and auctioning off spectrum for wireless service, using authority restored by last year\u2019s massive budget-reconciliation bill<\/a>, and said the commission is now turning its attention to easing permitting obstacles to building broadband infrastructure<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Carr also commended President Trump\u2019s moves to speed the development of AI<\/a>, saying that his boss<\/a> \u201chas been very clear that he wants the United States to lead the world in AI.\u201d\u00a0He refrained, however, from getting quite as enthusiastic in his support for Trump as he did at last year\u2019s CTIA Summit, when he described the FCC as \u201cmoving on Trump time.\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n

About Our Expert<\/p>\n

\"Rob<\/p>\n

Experience<\/p>\n

Rob Pegoraro writes about interesting problems and possibilities in computers, gadgets, apps, services, telecom, and other things that beep or blink. He\u2019s covered such developments as the evolution of the cell phone from 1G to 5G, the fall and rise of Apple, Google\u2019s growth from obscure Yahoo rival to verb status, and the transformation of social media from CompuServe forums to Facebook\u2019s billions of users. Pegoraro has met most of the founders of the internet and once received a single-word email reply from Steve Jobs.<\/p>\n


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