Key points
- FCC to vote on spectrum auction proposal
- One slice is a band SpaceX asked to use
- Amazon's phone satellites are in the race too
Federal Communications Commission Chairman Brendan Carr said the agency will vote on October 29 on a plan to auction "25 megahertz of prime, mid-band spectrum" that could carry 5G, satellite service straight to phones, or both. Part of it is a band SpaceX (SPCX) asked to use for its next phone satellites, a request the FCC deferred on October 6.
A second item on the same agenda would seek comment on making another 482 megahertz eligible for satellite companies to lease. The two proposals could help SpaceX and Amazon (AMZN), which are both building satellites that connect directly to phones, CNBC reported.
The auction would cover the 1675-1695 MHz and 2020-2025 MHz bands. The October 29 vote is on a notice of proposed rulemaking, which would seek public comment on the proposed auction. A senior FCC official told reporters there's no definite timeline for the sale itself.
The auction includes a band right next to SpaceX's new spectrum
On October 6, two FCC bureaus authorized SpaceX to deploy 15,000 satellites that serve phones, flying between 326 and 335 kilometers up. The grant covers the 2000-2020 MHz and 2180-2200 MHz bands that SpaceX is acquiring from EchoStar (ECHO), plus several smaller bands. Outside the US, the grant also lets SpaceX use two 7-megahertz L-band blocks for satellite mobile service: 1518-1525 MHz for signals down to phones and 1668-1675 MHz for signals back up to the satellites.
SpaceX also asked to use 2020-2025 MHz, which the order calls "immediately adjacent to the 2000-2020 MHz MSS band." The FCC deferred that request. A day later, Carr included the same 5 megahertz in the auction proposal.
The larger piece, 1675-1695 MHz, sits just below 1695-1710 MHz, a band the grant lets SpaceX use for signals from phones to its satellites. Weather satellites run by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration use part of the 1675-1695 MHz range today.
In February, the National Telecommunications and Information Administration identified 1675-1680 MHz as the first band to be reallocated under the One Big Beautiful Bill Act. The agency hasn't published findings on the other 15 megahertz.
SpaceX agreed to pay $19.6 billion for about 65 megahertz of EchoStar spectrum in two deals announced in 2025. When the FCC approved the transfer in May, it said it expects SpaceX "to be able to compete with incumbent terrestrial wireless providers with the beneficial result of potentially lowering prices for consumers."
On SpaceX's first earnings call in August, President Gwynne Shotwell said the company will "build out terrestrial" with the EchoStar spectrum and expects to win "quite a few" customers from AT&T (T), Verizon (VZ), and T-Mobile (TMUS). SpaceX has said it plans to launch its next-generation phone satellites in 2027.
Amazon asked the FCC in July for 5,105 satellites that connect straight to phones, using spectrum held by Globalstar (GSAT). Amazon agreed in April to buy Globalstar for $90 a share, and the deal hasn't closed.
"The 'direct-to-device' proposals work to continue leveraging this cutting-edge tech to end cell phone dead zones and provide service directly from next-gen satellite constellations to your smartphone," Carr said in a statement.
