SpaceX, Unlicensed Spectrum Users Want Tweaks to FCC Direct-to-Device Proposal
Experts said the agency’s proposal would only work in rural areas
WASHINGTON, Aug. 5, 2026 – Current users of unlicensed spectrum are hoping for some changes to a draft proposal that would invite comment on using the airwaves for direct-to-device satellite service.
The Federal Communications Commission is set to vote Thursday on a notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM) that would propose allowing direct-to-device operations in the 902-928 MegaHertz (MHZ), 2400-2483.5 MHz, and 5725-5850 MHz bands.
The agency’s idea is to meet increasing demand for direct-to-device spectrum, which SpaceX and others are spending billions to acquire and use to provide satellite connectivity outside the reach of terrestrial mobile networks.
Representatives from WISPA, which represents wireless broadband providers, met last week with legal advisors to each of the three FCC commissioners to urge against including “unsupported conclusions” from the draft in the adopted text.
The group said its members use the 900 MHz spectrum at issue to serve homes and businesses that are surrounded by trees and can’t be reached by other unlicensed spectrum, plus the 500 MHz airwaves to serve rural areas.
The 500 MHz spectrum is also used by Wi-FI and utilities, wrote Louis Peraertz, WISPA’s vice president of policy.
The group wanted multiple sentences deleted or reworked, including statements about the lack of rural service in the bands at issue and a tentative conclusion that direct-to-device wouldn’t cause interference for existing users.
NextNav CEO Mariam Sorond also met last week with a top advisor to FCC Chairman Brendan Carr to voice concerns. NextNav provides geolocation services using 900 MHz licenses, and is separately asking the FCC to allow it to operate a nationwide GPS backup in the band and lease its fallow spectrum to mobile carriers.
Sorond urged the agency to consider a similar scheme for satellites in the 900 MHz band, given priority location monitoring licenses were auctioned in the band. It would be similar to the FCC’s rule around satellite providers leasing carriers’ terrestrial 5G spectrum, the company wrote in a filing.
The FCC should “seek additional comment on the regulatory framework and use cases in the lower 900 MHz band as compared to the 2.4 GHz and 5.8 GHz bands also under consideration,” wrote Renee Gregory, NextNav’s vice president of regulatory affairs.
Broadcom, Intel, and Cisco held meetings with top advisors from each commissioner’s office proposing changes to the draft. The companies wanted more assurance that currently active unlicensed devices wouldn’t face interference from satellite communications.
During a WInnForum webinar last month, experts said the FCC’s idea to allow direct-to-device into unlicensed bands might not work well outside of the most isolated areas.
“I can’t see how it’s going to work, because there’s just going to be so many devices working out there,” said William Webb, a consultant and longtime telecom engineer. “If this is deeply, deeply, deeply rural, then maybe. But then there’s probably not a spectrum challenge in those areas anyway.”
Dennis Robertson, a former professor and advisor to the Commerce Department and FCC on spectrum issues, agreed that it would be a technical challenge to coordinate.
In areas “that have very large land masses with very low population density, it may be possible to use that capability,” he said. “But certainly if you’re talking about an urban environment, it’s impossible to even consider how that might be feasible. At least for me.”
SpaceX, CTIA
SpaceX, for its part, wanted the FCC to consider additional bands beyond the three named in the NPRM.
“The proposed Part 15 spectrum bands and the associated classes of devices should be presented in the final version as one option among many to increase deployment of next-generation satellite services for consumers,” wrote Joseph Bissonnette, SpaceX’s head of satellite policy, in a filing posted Monday.
He added that “doing so is particularly important in light of existing, wide-bandwidth domestic or international allocations for the fixed- and mobile-satellite service that remain unnecessarily encumbered by legacy rules but could be used for robust and reliable connectivity for consumers.”
CTIA, which represents the wireless carriers, was not pleased with what it called an “eleventh-hour proposal to significantly expand the scope of this proceeding far beyond the FCC’s stated intent.”
“SpaceX’s request would effectively tee up all bands, without regard to current uses, incumbent rights, or policy implications and would be far beyond the scope of the proceeding the public has been reviewing since the Draft NPRM was announced,” wrote Michael Mullinix, CTIA’s vice president of regulatory affairs. “It would unnecessarily generate a massive array of comments, would dilute the FCC’s intended focus, and most assuredly, would not be in the public interest.”
