AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T) CEO John Stankey says that Elon Musk-led Space Exploration Technologies Corp.‘s (NASDAQ:SPCX) plan to roll out a cellular network will not work, backing fiber-based connectivity over satellites.
John Stankey Says Satellite Will Not Outperform Fiber
In an interview with Axios on Tuesday, Stankey backed deploying fiber infrastructure to bolster its network, rejecting satellites. “Nothing beats it [fiber],” Stankey said, adding that it was three times faster than satellite networks. “Satellite, at its best, if everything happens right over the next 10 years, [is] still not going to beat fiber,” he affirmed.
Stankey was also asked in the report about SpaceX’s plan to install cellular base stations to transmit signals alongside Starlink dishes. “It would cost as much to do that as it would to build a macro network to be able to handle those capabilities,” Stankey said.
He also said that by law, companies “can’t radiate cellular signals from somebody’s house without their permission.” Stankey also said that there were a “whole bunch of reasons” why SpaceX’s plan would not work.
In early September, T-Mobile US Inc.‘s (NASDAQ:TMUS) Chief Financial Officer Pete Osvaldik expressed skepticism about Starlink being a threat to telecom operators. “You can have a million satellites up there with all the spectrum in the world; you can’t break the fundamental laws of physics,” Osvaldik had said.
Starlink Mobile
SpaceX, earlier this month, won the Federal Communications Commission’s (FCC) approval to provide international telecommunications services. The approval has helped boost the commercial spaceflight company’s plans to provide direct-to-cell 5G network connectivity via the Starlink constellation.
The FCC is also mulling increasing spectrum for satellite broadband services, with the agency set to vote on unlocking an additional 1,000 MHz of spectrum on September 30.
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