Posted on 09/09/2025 12:26:23 PM PDT by SunkenCiv
Elon Musk's SpaceX said Monday it will buy wireless spectrum licenses from EchoStar (SATS.O), opens new tab for its Starlink satellite network for about $17 billion, a major deal crucial to expanding Starlink's nascent 5G connectivity business.
The companies also agreed to a deal that will enable EchoStar's Boost Mobile subscribers to access Starlink direct-to-cell service to extend satellite service to areas without service.
The spectrum purchase allows SpaceX to start building and deploying upgraded, laser-connected satellites that the company said will expand the cell network's capacity by "more than 100 times."
...The push comes amid fast-rising wireless usage. In 2024, Americans used a record 132 trillion megabytes of mobile data, up 35% over the prior all-time record, industry group CTIA said Monday.
SpaceX has launched more than 8,000 Starlink satellites since 2020, building a distributed network in low-Earth orbit which has seen demand from militaries, transportation firms and consumers in rural areas.
Roughly 600 of those satellites - which SpaceX calls "cell towers in space" - have been launched since January 2024 for the company's direct-to-cell network, orbiting closer to Earth than the rest of the constellation...
The company in August sold some nationwide wireless spectrum licenses to AT&T for $23 billion. AT&T agreed to acquire 50 MHz of nationwide mid-band and low-band spectrum.
President Donald Trump previously prodded EchoStar and FCC Chair Brendan Carr to reach an amicable deal for the company's wireless spectrum licenses.
(Excerpt) Read more at reuters.com ...
Reporting by Harshita Mary Varghese in Bengaluru; Editing by Arun Koyyur, Shinjini Ganguli and Franklin Paul
Keep it up and we’ll be blocking the sun out. 😳😂👍
Direct to satellite cell service has considerable potential to undermine state censorship...
(around the 11 minute mark, Starlink v3 "pez" may be launched during Starship 11; the dummy versions to test the dispenser flew on Starship 10 and worked beautifully - 'Civ)Starship Flight 11 Preps Begin! | Starbase Update | 19:13
NASASpaceflight | 1.4M subscribers | 87,677 views | Premiered 19 hours agoHosted by Max Evans
Written by Adrian Beil
Edited by Ryan Caton
Produced by Kevin Michael Reed
Skynet............
Stock price Way UP $53 in a few weeks.
Some insiders made a fortune like congressmen...
It went from $29.88 on Aug 25 to today at 83.41
Check the month chart for EchoStar Corp
https://tinyurl.com/bdhr9ree
It's a big reason why I went with Starlink.
That's gonna be a big network.
That would have been nice, huh? 🤔
Hey, that’ll result in the global warming hoaxters Shuttin’ TFU. 😜
Where there is govt, there is a way. 🤔😂👍
A year ago, Starlink had 4 million subscribers. At that level it has been reported to be profitable. Profits were said to be 12 million on revenues of about $700 million. The estimate is for revenues to be above 12 billion in 2025.
The 4 million customers do not include the maritime customers of 75,000 ships and 3000 cruise ships, or government contracts.
Elon Musk says he expects $18 billion a year in profits - but did not put a date on it.
Projections are for the possibility of Starlink to obtain over a billion subscribers.
another brilliant move by the most powerful man on the planet, Elon Musk.
I expect Starlink will acquire ASTS and their birds, since ASTS has FAR better carrier-aligned, direct to cell capability. Just not the # of birds.
Watch live coverage as SpaceX launches a Falcon 9 rocket with the Nusantara Lima (N5) satellite from private Indonesian satellite company, Satelit Nusarntara Lima (SNL), a subsidiary of Pasifik Satelit Nusantara (PSN). Liftoff from Space Launch Complex 40 (SLC-40) at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station is scheduled for Tuesday, Sept. 9 at 9:37 p.m. EDT (0137 UTC on Sept. 10). The first-stage booster for this mission, tail number B1078, making its 23rd flight, will target a landing on SpaceX's drone ship 'A Shortfall of Gravitas' (ASOG), stationed in the Atlantic Ocean, roughly 8.5 minutes after leaving the launch pad.Watch live: SpaceX launches Indonesia's Nusantara Lima
on Falcon 9 rocket from Cape Canaveral | LIVE (2nd try)
Spaceflight Now | 377K subscribers | Lots watching now | Started 76 min ago
Heh, I think he was in Congress long enough that, when he coined that one, it was million instead of billion. 😁
SCRUB! (weather problem)
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