The Federal Communications Commission is moving to overhaul decades-old rules to “supercharge” satellite internet speeds for SpaceX’s Starlink and Amazon’s Leo, which could potentially lower their costs and spur new competition.

On April 30, the agency will vote on an order intended to modernize how older geostationary satellite systems share radio spectrum with newer, low-Earth orbit constellations like Starlink. FCC Chair Brendan Carr is already hailing the order as a way to lift “outdated power limits on satellite internet” for faster speeds. On Thursday, the Commission released the full text of the 67-page proposal, which mentions major enhancements bound to improve Starlink, the dominant satellite internet provider that’s already serving 10 million active customers around the globe.

The proposal focuses on the “Equivalent Power Flux Density” (EPFD) rules, which were developed in the late 1990s, and limit the amount of energy satellite systems can transmit to and from ground equipment. In the text, the FCC says the current regulations have led the satellite industry to “overprotect” higher orbiting geostationary systems at the expense of newer constellations, such as Starlink, constraining their ability to deliver faster speeds.

The FCC decided to revamp the rules by declining to “establish aggregate limits or other limits” on low-Earth orbiting constellations such as Starlink. Instead, the goal is to loosen the rules so that geostationary and low-Earth orbit satellite operators engage in “good-faith coordination” and “bargain for appropriate interference protections through voluntary, private agreement.” If coordination can’t be reached, the FCC has imposed a series of “technical backstops” meant to prevent major signal degradation for geostationary satellites.

The result means more low-Earth orbit satellites, like those from Starlink, can serve the same area, using higher power levels to boost speeds. “For example, when an NGSO [non-geostationary] system can employ eight satellites to provide service simultaneously in a given geographic area and frequency band, instead of being effectively limited to one satellite under current EPFD limits,” the Commission said.

A footnote even says, "Under the revised rules we adopt today, SpaceX could operate with up to eight co-frequency satellites in the same area simultaneously," citing the company's testing.

The new rules also mean potential “capacity increases of 100% to 700%" using the same number of satellites, the FCC added. Conversely, a company could elect to use fewer satellites to serve each area, thereby reducing costs, which might trickle down to price reductions for consumers, the Commission said.

By: DocMemory
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