Amazon Didn't Buy Globalstar for the Satellites. It Bought the Spectrum.
Amazon just agreed to acquire Globalstar for $11.57 billion. On the surface this is about Project Kuiper, now rebranded Amazon Leo, getting a boost against Starlink. Two dozen extra satellites, an established ground network, direct-to-device tech for future iPhones. But the real prize is something less obvious. Days after the deal was announced, the FCC rejected requests from SpaceX, AST SpaceMobile, Kepler, and Sateliot to access the Big LEO MSS band. The ruling was blunt: spectrum sharing in these bands is impractical. Globalstar and Iridium’s exclusive rights stand. That timing is everything. Amazon now owns one of two companies on Earth with the right to transmit on these specific orbital frequencies, and the regulator just made it clear nobody else is getting in. ...