US regulator approves rules for direct-to-satel wireless service

A potential $30 billion market that attracted Elon Musk's SpaceX and competitors including AT&T Inc. partner AST SpaceMobile Inc., was approved by the US regulators for the rules for offering phone calls via direct links to satellites.

The Federal Communications Commission approved regulations for the service, which would expand mobile-phone reception to places beyond cell coverage and give access to remote areas, as a result of a 4 -- 0 vote Thursday. The rules won't be final until a second vote is scheduled that wasn't immediately scheduled.

FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel said before the agency's monthly meeting in Washington that "by providing clear rules, we believe that we can kick-start more innovation in the space economy, while expanding wireless coverage in remote, unserved and underserved areas. We can make dead zones a thing of the past. Companies like Iridium Communications Inc. have long offered connections directly between handheld devices and satellites, using expensive specialized equipment. A years-long aspiration to have coverage from space is coming closer to reality. The Space Exploration Technologies Corp. plans to test calls via orbit this year as part of a partnership with T-Mobile US Inc. Jonathan Hofeller, vice president of commercial sales at SpaceX's Starlink unit, said at a conference on March 13.

The FCC changed its draft language to barring the use of frequencies for calls-via-satel, by AT&T and Midland, Texas-based startup AST SpaceMobile, and now seeks comments on allowing their use, agency staff said in a news conference. Those airwaves are assigned to FirstNet, a wireless network for public safety officials operated by AT&T.

In filings, both AT&T and AST SpaceMobile asked the FCC to allow direct-to- satellite service on the FirstNet airwaves, which is being used to test the service.

AT&T said in an emailed statement that they support the FCC's efforts to allow mobile networks to integrate satellite coverage. We look forward to participating in the development of rules that facilitate coverage and foster competition. Direct-to satellite proponents plan to provide coverage when the world s estimated 5 billion mobile phones stray from cell coverage areas. They expect to offer service in places with no cell signal at all, such as remote mountains or far out at sea.

By 2035, industrywide revenue for such connectivity could reach $30 billion, or about 3% of total industry revenue, according to GSMA, a mobile industry body.

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