TAMPA, Fla. — SpaceX secured permission March 7 to provide direct-to-smartphone satellite services at higher power levels to improve connectivity beyond the reach of cell towers across the United States.
The U.S. Federal Communications Commission said it is allowing SpaceX to emit more power into spectrum bands adjacent to its partner T-Mobile’s frequencies, provided it does not interfere with other networks following concerns from rival telcos.
This conditional approval follows the FCC’s November decision allowing SpaceX to use T-Mobile’s cellular frequencies on up to 7,500 Gen2 Starlink satellites for Supplemental Coverage from Space (SCS).
At the time, the FCC postponed a decision on whether to let these satellites operate at higher power levels — an upgrade paving the way for services to expand beyond SOS and texting to support real-time voice and video calls.
Companies such as Verizon and AT&T, which have partnered with direct-to-smartphone startup AST SpaceMobile, warned that increased emissions could degrade the performance of terrestrial mobile networks in the United States and create interference risks.
SpaceX pointed to technical studies showing that increased power levels remained within safe interference thresholds, arguing that relaxing power limits is essential for delivering reliable emergency communications and expanding mobile coverage to underserved areas.
In its ruling, the FCC determined that SpaceX’s proposed power levels were justified and unlikely to cause harmful interference.
“The Commission determined that deployment of SCS will serve important public interest goals for the nation — expanding the reach of communications services, including emergency services, to more remote places,” the FCC said, noting SpaceX said the permission was “crucial to its widespread deployment of SCS, and emphasized the need to enable faster and more reliable voice communications in remote locations.”
The direct-to-smartphone service is currently in a free beta testing phase open to all U.S. carriers until July. After that, rival carriers and some T-Mobile plans will require a monthly fee for access.
Of the more than 7,000 Starlink satellites currently in low Earth orbit, around 500 are equipped with a direct-to-smartphone payload.
