Telstra says it won’t seek to lock rivals out of 2GHz-range spectrum needed to provide mobile-to-satellite services (MSS) and meet the requirements of the federal government’s universal outdoor mobile service bill.
Industry debate about the spectrum, the only bands suitable for the services yet to be licensed, is heating up with the Australian Communication and Communications Authority (ACMA) yet to determine how to allocate it.
Starlink low earth orbit satellite broadband service operator, SpaceX, said that it was concerned that the regulator might pursue a licensing method that would see Telstra gain control of the entire remaining allocation of 2GHz spectrum.
Currently, Telstra is Australia’s only mobile network operator (MNO) which partners with SpaceX to offer successful Starlink first generation satellite-to-mobile text message service in remote and regional parts of Australia.
The carrier achieves this using terrestrial licenses that are within the 2GHz range but separate from the MSS bands that ACMA is seeking to allocate.
SpaceX’s vice president of satellite policy David Goldman told iTnews that giving Telstra control of the remaining frequencies would effectively prevent it from provisioning satellite-to-mobile (STM) services to its rival MNOs.
“Telstra wants the spectrum because, if they have it, their assumption is that we’ll still want to come into the country and if they have the frequencies that locks us in – the only way we can operate in Australia is through Telstra,” Goldman said.
“Whereas what we’re saying is, we want to operate with everybody.”
Goldman said that the company was disappointed with media reports framing SpaceX’s position as a threat to exclude Australia from the rollout of its next generation of broadband satellite services, which will offer more advanced STM services, unless it gets its way.
“It’s actually the opposite. We’re begging to provide service in Australia and what we’re being told is we may not give you the necessary frequencies to do it,” he said.
However, Telstra has given its strongest hint yet that it might not be seeking to take control of all that remains of available 2GHz frequency bands.
“We are not seeking to exclude satellite network operators or any MNO from accessing the 2GHz band,” a Telstra spokesman said.
“We also don’t have a preference for whether the spectrum is allocated by auction or administratively.”
ACMA faces a difficult decision about how to allocate the spectrum.
On the one hand it has to manage the expectations of SpaceX, which has acquired global rights to the spectrum through the International Telecommunications Union (ITU).
More broadly, unlike terrestrial mobile spectrum, satellite spectrum is harmonised internationally due to the global nature of constellations.
“The international rights we hold in this band were acquired specifically because that was the pathway ACMA identified for satellite operators seeking spectrum access in Australia, and we invested accordingly,” Goldman said.
“Our ask is simply to be treated consistently with every other satellite band in this country.”
However, ACMA is also facing pressure from local mobile network operators who want access to LEOsat STM services on competitive terms.
The government’s looming universal mobile service obligation (UOMO) bill, which is currently in limbo before a parliamentary inquiry, is adding to mobile network operators’ concerns.
The bill leaves operators facing the onus of providing competitive voice and text services over five million square kilometres of the Australia, including 37,000 kilometres of road – a feat that they broadly agree won’t be feasible without STM services.
The UOMO bill’s current default start date is December 2027, however Telstra, Optus and TPG have told parliament that it’s built on unrealistic expectations about the maturity and commercial availability of STM services.
Competition concerns are high in operators’ minds.
For instance, at the most recent hearing into the UOMO bill, TPG Telecom conceded that it currently has no access to terrestrial frequencies that allow it to offer Starlink services in remote areas in competition with Telstra.
If ACMA was to recognise SpaceX’s claim to the frequencies – and an incumbent holder of alternative 2GHz spectrum declined to offer competing services or make the spectrum available to them – MNOs would effectively be locked into using Starlink’s service.
One potential competing satellite operator is Viasat, which holds licenses to use spectrum in the 2GHz range in Australia through its ownership of maritime communications specialist, Inmarsat.
Viasat is planning to offer direct-to-device mobile satellite services as part of a joint venture with UAE-based Space42.
In September last year, the two companies announced that they had established a third entity Equatys to engineer the services and start initial commercial engagement with mobile network operators.
Viasat, through global satellite industry group the Mobile Satellite Services Association (MSSA), has also voiced opposition to the possibility of ACMA putting the remaining allocations of 2GHz spectrum in Australia out to auction.
“Such a mechanism is not well-suited to the operational realities of satellite networks or the specialised and technically constrained use of the 2GHz band for mobile satellite services. In this context, exclusive access is essential to avoid interference and preserve service quality,” the MSSA told ACMA in its submission.
Australian mobile network operators want the default date for the UOMO bill’s commencement to be pushed back to late 2028 at the earliest.
They argue that the technology and the market for STM services needs more time to mature, which includes resolving concerns about 2GHz spectrum.
SpaceX said that, based on testimony ACMA put to the UOMO parliamentary inquiry last week, it’s satisfied that the regulator does not intend to auction the remaining 2GHz allocations.
“If ACMA were to go that way, it would place Australia in a category of its own. An auction for this spectrum is unprecedented for a globally harmonised satellite band, and for good reason – especially since any license would come with requirements to coordinate with the holder of the international ITU rights.
“This global requirement is one of the many reasons why no other regulator in the world has held a successful auction,” Goldman said.
Goldman refused to be drawn when asked whether SpaceX would use legal means to enforce its claim to the 2GHz frequencies internationally.
“We believe parliament is well placed to provide that clarity,” he told iTnews.
