SpaceX asks Starlink customers for support in wireless battle with Dish

SpaceX emailed Starlink customers June 28 asking for help in its battle against Dish Network over radio frequencies for its Starlink internet-from-space effort. Some Starlink customers received an email urging them to contact the Federal Communications Commission and members of Congress in order to support SpaceX in the ongoing dispute. “Today we ask for your support in ending a lobbying campaign that threatens to make Starlink unusable for you and the vast majority of our American customers,” the email reads in bold. Currently, SpaceX and Dish are squabbling over a range of radio frequencies known as the 12GHz band. SpaceX uses these frequencies to operate its massive Starlink network, a growing constellation of more than 2,400 satellites used to beam broadband internet coverage to users on Earth. It’s also a frequency used by OneWeb, another internet-from-space initiative. However, in January 2021, the FCC opened the door to the 12GHz band being used for 5G, with Dish and a company called RS Access submitting studies on ways their networks could utilize the frequencies. The companies also formed a “5G for 12 GHz Coalition,” along with other company members, aimed at getting the FCC to change its rules and allow the 12GHz band to be used for 5G.