FCC accepts SpaceX’s Grain spectrum bid for filing — first gate for Starlink Mobile
The FCC accepted SpaceX’s application to buy Grain’s 800 MHz-band licenses and opened review — not an approval, but the start of a comment period that sets the timeline for Starlink Mobile’s challenge to the big three carriers.
Per Teslarati, the FCC’s Wireless Telecommunications Bureau on Nov. 10 accepted for filing SpaceX’s applications to take control of two Grain Management license companies, Prism License Co. 1 and 2. The licenses would move to SpaceX subsidiary Starlink Spectrum Holdings under WT Docket No. 26-313.
The deal covers 546 paired licenses across 3,224 counties in the 817–824 MHz and 862–869 MHz bands, up to 14 MHz. After closing, SpaceX would hold up to 89 MHz in any market, far below the FCC’s 385 MHz threshold for closer competitive review. AT&T, Verizon and T-Mobile each hold roughly 300 MHz.
Acceptance is not approval. Comments and petitions to deny are due Dec. 1 and oppositions Dec. 8. A separate Oct. 27 application for supplemental coverage from space is still pending. The Grain deal was announced Oct. 8; it is not directly about Tesla but tracks Elon Musk’s wider business. Single-outlet report.
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