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Why SpaceX made a $17B bet on the direct-to-cell market


Explaining SpaceX's aggressive move to dominate satellite-to-phone connectivity.

SpaceX just fired off one of the biggest shots yet in the spectrum wars, agreeing to pay$17 billion to take over a massive chunk of wireless airwaves from EchoStar for Starlink’s Direct-to-Cell services. Of course, SpaceX is in the business of building rockets and satellites, not cell phones, so it still depends on the hardware makers and carriers to reach hundreds of millions of consumers. Earlier this year, the Commission opened a formal rulemaking to modernize satellite sharing limits after a petition from SpaceX, with Kuiper and others filing in support.

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