Starlink clashes with Telecom Italia over frequency data sharing
- Reference: 1712061912
- News link: https://www.theregister.co.uk/2024/04/02/starlink_telecom_italia_dispute/
- Source link:
The satellite broadband operator has filed a complaint with Italy's telecoms regulator regarding Telecom Italia, one of the largest operators in the country, according to [1]Bloomberg .
Starlink claims the company is not complying with regulations that require it to share frequency data. This information is necessary to let it to operate safely in southern Europe and North Africa without interfering with existing services.
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We asked Starlink and Telecom Italia for comment, and contacted the regulator Agcom for a statement regarding the matter.
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According to the private document seen by Bloomberg, lack of access to the frequency data is severely slowing Starlink's deployment of new gateway equipment, ground stations that link its satellite constellation with the terrestrial internet.
Telecom Italia "has clearly informed Starlink that it doesn't want to coordinate," the document states. In response, the Musk-owned satellite operator is pushing for the regulator and Italy's Industry Ministry to lean on Telecom Italia to cooperate, warning it may shift investment from Italy to other European countries if the situation is not resolved.
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For its part, Telecom Italia informed Bloomberg that this does not take into account ongoing discussions. The company had previously said that Starlink should not be allowed to operate using certain frequencies for unspecified technical reasons.
The news comes after Starlink was rebuffed in the US last week by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) over an application to use radio spectrum in the 1.6/2.4 GHz and 2 GHz bands for its planned [6]Direct to Cell service that offers mobile phone connectivity via satellite.
[7]Is Russia using Starlink in Ukraine? Congress demands answers
[8]Out with the old, in with the new as 100 Starlink satellites take atmospheric exit
[9]Ukraine claims Russian military is using Starlink
[10]Musk lashes out at Biden administration over rural broadband
The FCC dismissed Starlink's filing as unacceptable, saying the company had applied for modification of an existing authorization to deploy and operate up to 7,500 Gen2 satellites to include authority for operations using the 1.6/2.4 GHz and 2 GHz bands.
After reviewing the application, the [11]FCC ruled [PDF] that those bands are currently unavailable for additional mobile satellite service (MSS) operations, and that requests to operate in these bands do not comply with Commission requirements.
Should it decide to make the 1.6/2.4 GHz and 2 GHz bands available for additional MSS applicants in the future, SpaceX will be able to reapply under that revised framework, the FCC said.
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Starlink and its SpaceX parent were [13]granted approval at the end of last year to run trials of the Direct to Cell service using frequencies in the 1910-1915 MHz and 1990-1995 MHz bands, otherwise known as the PCS G Block, with the cooperation of T-Mobile USA, which is the licensee of those bands. ®
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[1] https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2024-04-01/musk-s-starlink-faces-obstruction-from-phone-carrier-in-italy-high-speed-rollout
[2] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_onprem/networks&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=2&c=2Zgwrm4TJlVz7kfyHsvedPwAAAMg&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D2%26raptor%3Dcondor%26pos%3Dtop%26test%3D0
[3] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_onprem/networks&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44Zgwrm4TJlVz7kfyHsvedPwAAAMg&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[4] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_onprem/networks&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=3&c=33Zgwrm4TJlVz7kfyHsvedPwAAAMg&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D3%26raptor%3Deagle%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[5] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_onprem/networks&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44Zgwrm4TJlVz7kfyHsvedPwAAAMg&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[6] https://www.starlink.com/business/direct-to-cell
[7] https://www.theregister.com/2024/03/08/is_russia_using_starlink_in/
[8] https://www.theregister.com/2024/02/15/100_starlink_satellites_deorbit/
[9] https://www.theregister.com/2024/02/12/russian_military_starlink_claims/
[10] https://www.theregister.com/2024/01/23/musk_starlink_fcc/
[11] https://docs.fcc.gov/public/attachments/DA-24-300A1.pdf
[12] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_onprem/networks&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=3&c=33Zgwrm4TJlVz7kfyHsvedPwAAAMg&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D3%26raptor%3Deagle%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[13] https://www.theregister.com/2023/12/15/spacex_cleared_to_test_satellite/
[14] https://whitepapers.theregister.com/
"it may shift investment from Italy to other European countries if the situation is not resolved"
Yeah but you're forgetting the fact that the Starlink ground station connects to a contractually agreed list of local ISPs who provide the internety stuff to the Starlink customers in that country.
If Starlink can provide me over 300mbps for 45€ a month and is obviously paying the local ISPs a wedge, Starlink doesn't have to be any bigger.
As for customer service, the whole thing is pretty much thought out. I've been using it for over 18 months and it only went phut once in a heavy snow storm.
As someone else on here said, Starlink is just a space router putting an off grid wallah like me on line. So what's the problem?
In the 90s I worked for a consortium of Italian companies who were developing some comms kit for the Italian government. There was a similar product already in production from a UK company which was did the job but worked on a slightly different frequency. I met one of their engineers just after he'd had a meeting with our customer so they were obviously trying to compete. No problem - the MD of one of our companies had a couple of meetings in Rome and, whaddya know, the frequency that they used had a restriction placed on it due to "national security" which meant that the UK product couldn't be used. They could have easily tweaked their design, but I think they knew what they were up against and realised that it wouldn't have helped.
"it may shift investment from Italy to other European countries if the situation is not resolved"
The most investment Starlink make in a country is add the country drop-down box to their website, set up a tiny shoebox company used to collect payments from customers, and pay the bare minimum in taxes. There aren't even any customer service jobs because Starlink doesn't have any customer service.