Dish Network’s parent company isn’t giving up on efforts to use the 12GHz radio spectrum for 5G service, despite concerns from SpaceX that doing so risks Disabled Access Starlink in the US.
“The FCC must act quickly to authorize fixed wireless services in the lower 12 GHz band,” EchoStar EVP Jeff Blum said in a statement.
Last year, the FCC sideways with SpaceX in the contentious dispute after heavy lobbying by Starlink subscribers. However, the agency kept the door open to using the 12GHz band for 5G services, with the goal of operating the proposed networks alongside existing satellite services.
In new filings with the FCC, EchoStar — which also owns Boost Mobile — renews its push to use 12 GHz spectrum for a fixed 5G service. And SpaceX is responding once again with its own harsh criticism.
“Dish’s fixed service would cause harmful interference to SpaceX broadband users at least 80% of the time wherever Dish is deployed,” the company. said FCC last week. “To protect these Americans, the Commission must end these proceedings.”
(Credit: Patrick T. Fallon/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
SpaceX has presented its own ANALYSIS which claims that Starlink users within the service areas of Dish’s proposed 12 GHz 5G base stations would experience widespread interference. In addition, the company notes that DirecTV—which wants to buy EchoStar’s Dish Network business—presented its own evidence showing that the risks of interference are real for US satellite services.
In response, EchoStar submitted its own study last Friday to refute SpaceX’s claims. Instead, the Dish parent argues that technical evidence shows that a 12GHz 5G service can coexist with Starlink and other satellite services without causing disruption.
“The SpaceX study is a textbook example of how to manipulate a technical analysis to reach a preconceived conclusion,” asserts EchoStar. “Using a series of unrealistic and flawed assumptions, SpaceX produces interference scenarios that bear no resemblance to fixed real-world 5G deployments.”
EchoStar’s main argument is that SpaceX gets its own 5G base stations will be randomly placed in a service area and will operate at full power. In reality, the company plans to install base stations in specific areas away from Starlink users. “Careful placement of these stations is the exact key to achieving separation,” he says.
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“Of course, achieving separation starts with careful placement of ground service towers – this is the case today for MVDDS (Multichannel Video Distribution and Data Service), and should be for 5G fixed base stations as well,” says EchoStar.
“According to SpaceX, the locations of its customers are forever unknown and unknown based on ‘privacy’ concerns,” the company added. “But SpaceX primarily provides a fixed service — the location of its customers is the customer’s family or business. A clearinghouse can know where any fixed customer is, subject to confidentiality guarantees.”
(Credit: EchoStar)
The EchoStar study, which comes from a consulting firm called RKF Engineering, shows how Dish’s 12 GHz 5G wireless service can be deployed to avoid creating interference with local Starlink users. But it remains to be seen whether the FCC will comply. The commission previously denied opening up the spectrum for a 5G service, citing concerns about interference. However, interested parties have also been asked to submit more detailed technical studies to support proposals for the use of the 12 GHz band.
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About Michael Kahn
Senior reporter
