Competition for Musk's Starlink?: European providers are getting involved in satellite telephony

It's about Europe's independent position in the area of ​​space infrastructure: Telekom and other European providers want to work together to build a network for satellite telephony and apply for the corresponding frequencies. This is unlikely to go down well in the USA.

Europe's major telecommunications companies are pulling together to reach cell phone users from space even in remote areas. Deutsche Telekom, the British provider Vodafone, Telefónica from Spain and Orange from France announced that they want to jointly bid for frequencies for mobile satellite services. A corresponding declaration of intent has been signed. It's about frequencies that are expected to become available in 2029 and have so far been used for Internet connections on airplanes.

The companies said they want to achieve comprehensive coverage even in underserved areas, strengthen the resilience of mobile networks, protect critical communications and support the development of a European satellite constellation. The aim of the cooperation is to ensure Europe's independent position in the area of ​​space infrastructure. There are plans to build central infrastructure on the ground as well as important coordination and control functions in Europe.

Mobile phone customers will be offered direct-to-device services (D2D) - the smartphone will be connected directly to satellites in space where there is currently no mobile phone network. Most smartphones have not yet integrated this D2D function, but it is likely to reach the mass market in the coming years.

It's about white spots - i.e. where the outdated 2G network is no longer available. According to the Federal Network Agency, this was 1.2 percent of Germany's area at Deutsche Telekom in June, 1.7 percent at Vodafone and 1.6 percent at Telefónica's O2. In such areas, cell phone users will be connected to satellites in space in the future. It is still unclear who the satellite operator is. It is unlikely to be Elon Musk's space company SpaceX with its Starlink internet service, as the four companies' project is about European sovereignty.

US government threatens retaliation

Deutsche Telekom said that the four companies would provide the necessary infrastructure on the ground to establish voice and Internet connections between standard mobile devices and satellites. The satellites should be provided by a partner yet to be selected. As part of this initiative, all European mobile phone providers were given non-discriminatory access to the satellite network.

In Europe, licenses to use certain radio frequencies for satellite communications will soon be reissued. The EU Commission has reserved part of the spectrum for European providers. According to a media report, the US government is threatening “devastating” retaliation if market access for US companies like Starlink is restricted. The subsidiary of the space company SpaceX is by far the world's largest satellite operator and has acquired radio frequencies in the USA for several billion dollars in order to compete with mobile operators there.