The decision risks angering Washington as it will limit the frequencies available to U.S. companies, including Elon Musk\u2019s SpaceX and Amazon Leo, and curtail their fast expansion. In practice, it would mean moving from a frequency range today entirely controlled by American companies to one in which they would get, at the very best, a third.<\/p>\n
The proposal will be made public on Wednesday. It will split the available frequencies into three blocks of 10MHz. One will be reserved for secure government communications, including through the EU’s flagship constellation IRIS\u00b2, one earmarked for European startups, and a third that could be allocated either to European or non-European companies.<\/p>\n
It also comes just days after EU institutions reached an agreement on the details of a new EU-U.S. trade deal.<\/p>\n
The Commission is expected to frame the move not as an effort to exclude foreign companies, but as a bid to retain European control over a critical asset \u2014 much as other administrations do, including the U.S., one of the people said.<\/p>\n
Previously, the spectrum licenses have been granted to Viasat and EchoStar, two American space operators, since 2009 for mobile communications and are set to expire in 2027.<\/p>\n