Grain Aiming to Lease Direct-to-Device Spectrum 90 Days After Deal Closing
The firm’s founder David Grain met with FCC Chairman Brendan Carr last week to pitch the arrangement.
WASHINGTON, April 28, 2026 – Investment firm Grain Management thinks it could lease some low-band spectrum to satellite companies within 90 days, if federal regulators allow the arrangement.
Grain’s founder and CEO, industry veteran David Grain, met with Federal Communications Commission Chairman Brendan Carr and a top advisor on April 17 to detail the company’s plans for 800 MegaHertz (MHz) licenses it’s looking to buy from T-Mobile.
“Grain anticipates attracting experienced operators that can meet the technical, financial, and operational requirements necessary for rapid and large-scale rollout of satellite D2D service across the United States,” the company wrote in a filing posted April 22.
The company said it planned to start soliciting and evaluating proposals from direct-to-device operators interested in leasing the spectrum once the FCC approved the deal. Satellite bidders would “be required to commit to deploying the spectrum quickly for D2D service,” show they had the capacity to deploy the spectrum at scale, and submit deployment plans.
“Grain believes that this competitive process can be completed within 90 days of its commencement and will facilitate the swift identification of a qualified D2D satellite operator capable of deploying the spectrum nationwide,” the company wrote.
Grain wants “ultimate decision-making authority” over selecting a provider and the terms of the deal.
T-Mobile first reached a deal in March 2025 to sell Grain its 800 MHz spectrum for $2.9 billion, plus the firm’s 600 MHz holdings. The idea initially was for Grain to lease or sell the spectrum to utility companies or mobile carriers.
In March the companies added satellite operators to the list, which they pitched as a means of furthering Carr’s desire to boost the space economy and satellite industry. The companies said a satellite provider could turn the spectrum on very quickly, and potentially reduce the scope of its service as Grain sold airwaves to terrestrial mobile providers.
Grain Management representatives met with Arpan Sura, Carr’s senior advisor on wireless and AI, previously on April 6 to pitch the new arrangement. Sura was also at the April 17 meeting with Grain and Carr.
SpaceX dominates the direct-to-device space currently, but others are looking to compete. AST SpaceMobile, which is partnering with AT&T and Verizon on direct-to-device service, recently got FCC approval to use the carriers’ spectrum for that purpose. Amazon is also purchasing Globalstar, which provides direct-to-device connectivity on Apple phones, in a bid to compete with SpaceX.
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