SpaceX buys more spectrum from EchoStar as speculation mounts about Musk disrupting wireless

SpaceX is going back to EchoStar to purchase more spectrum

With TDD, the same frequency is used for both downlinks and uplinks. Yes, this is akin to two drivers heading toward each other on a one-way road and nothing good comes from the resulting crash. But with TDD, the same frequency alternates between downlinks and uplinks. Thus, there is no heads-on accident since the sending and receipt of data is handled at different time intervals.

Boost Mobile is no longer in the running to become the fourth facilities-based carrier in the U.S. | Image credit-Boost Mobile

FCC Chairman Carr applied pressure to EchoStar resulting in the sale of airwaves to AT&T

AvidThink founder and principal Roy Chua says that the latest deal with EchoStar will give SpaceX a nationwide and contiguous block of mid-band airwaves perfectly suited for D2D or direct-to-cell (D2C) phone services. Having said that, Chua also expects that instead of becoming the fourth facilities-based mobile network provider, SpaceX has another idea in mind.

“I expect they will continue to partner with MNOs for D2C services but leverage the spectrum for other more niche use cases in the enterprise/IoT/OT space,” Chua said. Recon Analytics founder Roger Entner also sees some hiccups for Elon if this is his plan. While Musk, being the richest man in the world can throw money at any problem that pops up, Etner told Fierce Wireless that “Coming in and trying to have scale is going to be very difficult.”