AT&T and Verizon have urged the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to delay T-Mobile's proposed direct-to-cell satellite offering with SpaceX's Starlink offering.
The two telcos have argued their case this week with the regulator, stating that SpaceX’s plans will harm their respective mobile broadband networks.
In filings to the FCC, both telcos have asked the regulator to dismiss SpaceX's waiver request that would allow it to deploy a supplemental coverage from space (SCS) satellite service with a relaxed out-of-band power flux-density (PFD).
EchoStar and Omnispace also oppose SpaceX's plans.
"SpaceX has failed to demonstrate that its requested waiver of the aggregate out-of-band PFD limit meets the Commission’s waiver standard," said Verizon in its filing.
"SpaceX’s proposal would undermine the Commission’s core goal of protecting incumbent terrestrial licensee operations from SCS satellite operations in adjacent bands by subjecting them to harmful interference. This failure directly contradicts the requirement that a waiver request not undermine the validity of the general rule."
In 2022, T-Mobile signed a direct-to-cell satellite agreement with, SpaceX to target dead spots across the US.
SpaceX has maintained that its proposed SCS operations will not harm its competitors, while the company along with T-Mobile has claimed the filings are a tactic to delay its deployment of the service.
AT&T and Verizon have their own partnerships with AST SpaceMobile to provide 100 percent coverage across North America.
The duo will share with AST SpaceMobile a portion of their respective bands of 850 MHz low-band spectrum