Satellite

EU Looking to Set Aside Most of 2 GHz Band for European Operators

American firm SpaceX is buying 30 megahertz in the band from EchoStar, but could at most access 20 megahertz in Europe under the plan.

Jake Neenan

May 28, 2026 — 2 min read

Photo of Henna Virkkunen, European Commissioner for Tech-Sovereignty, Security and Democracy, at a press conference in Brussels, Belgium, on April 9, 2025 by Omar Havana/AP

WASHINGTON, May 28, 2026 – European regulators are planning to set aside most of a direct-to-device spectrum band for European operators. That’s not ideal for SpaceX, which is buying global rights to that band in its bid to offer high-speed mobile service with a new satellite constellation.

The European Commission’s proposal, put forward Wednesday, would allocate a third of the 2 GigaHertz (GHz) band for government operations, and another third for European satellite companies.

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Satellite SpaceX European Commission Henna Virkkunen Sam McHugh Brendan Carr FCC Echostar

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