The US Federal Communications Commission has opened formal review of SpaceX's plan to take control of 546 wireless spectrum licences from Grain Management, a key step towards turning Starlink Mobile into a US phone network. The regulator's Wireless Telecommunications Bureau accepted the transfer applications for filing in a public notice released on 10 November, and the move was reported on 11 and 12 November.

Acceptance for filing is not approval. The bureau said the applications were found acceptable on initial review, meaning the paperwork is complete, and it can still return them if a closer look turns up defects. The case, in docket WT 26-313, now enters a public comment period, with comments and petitions to deny due on 1 December and oppositions due on 8 December.

Licences cover almost the whole US

The licences, held by Grain's Prism License companies, carry up to 14 MHz of paired spectrum in the 817-824 MHz and 862-869 MHz bands, across 173 economic areas covering 3,224 counties in all 50 states, Washington DC, Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands, or about 100% of the US population. Control would pass to Starlink Spectrum Holdings, a wholly owned SpaceX subsidiary, after which SpaceX would hold up to 89 MHz of spectrum in any area.

Neither company has disclosed a price, though Bloomberg and The Wall Street Journal have reported a figure of about $8 billion. Grain bought the licences from T-Mobile this year for about $3 billion in cash plus some 600 MHz licences, and the strict buildout conditions the FCC attached to that sale would carry over to SpaceX. A separate application filed on 27 October, asking to use the same frequencies for satellite coverage from space, remains pending and would need further authorisation.

Sources: Advanced Television, MLQ