SpaceX has confirmed it will be developing its own Starlink mobile network that sounds like it will be directly competing with the big three — AT&T, Verizon and T-Mobile.

Starlink Mobile already exists, and typically runs in partnership with local carriers to offer limited access to mobile data on satellite-ready phones. In the U.S. that service runs in partnership with T-Mobile. What's changing is that SpaceX has announced that it will be combining satellite and terrestrial mobile infrastructure with the goal of becoming a "major" U.S. carrier.

As part of this move, SpaceX has acquired licenses to low-band mobile spectrum. Specifically, up to 14 MHz of paired spectrum in the 800 MHz band. This joins the 2GHz of mid-band spectrum that Starlink already acquired from EchoStar last year.

SpaceX has made it clear that the mid-band spectrum will be handling high-bandwidth capacity, while this new spectrum will "provide a new coverage layer" that allows Starlink signals to pass through walls and keep people connected while they're outside. Plus, existing phones already support the 800MHz spectrum band.

One thing that does need to be made clear is that SpaceX is still awaiting final approval from the FCC, and can't continue with its plans until that happens. However, the FCC had approved plans to deploy 15,000 V2 Starlink Mobile satellites, which SpaceX says will offer 100 times the bandwidth compared to current-gen satellites.

” All thanks to the way it will deploy space and ground-based mobile infrastructure.

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