EU satellite phone preference draws US threat

The EU wants European companies to have a better chance at the airwaves that let satellites connect directly to ordinary phones, and Washington is warning of consequences. Andrew Puzder, the US ambassador to the EU, said retaliation against European firms could happen and could be very devastating if Brussels restricts American satellite competitors (Financial Times). SpaceX has no guaranteed claim to the next licences, and the European preference Puzder is attacking could still change before the law is passed.

The threat is vague. Puzder named no tariff, company or deadline. He accepts that the EU may protect sensitive government communications, and objects to commercial rules that he says weaken American rivals. The Commission reportedly answered that the plan aims to bring in more suppliers and still leaves room for non-EU bidders (investingLive). No US trade action has started.

What Brussels wants to hand out

The draft law decides who may send mobile signals from space to unmodified handsets once today's licences expire in May 2027 (European Parliament Research Service). A satellite using these frequencies works like a very distant phone mast. It can reach a phone where ground networks fail. Starlink's dish-based internet is a separate service.

The Commission's proposal also sets coverage targets. Every commercial winner would have to reach 95% of the population and 90% of the land in each member state within five years of starting service (Commission proposal). Those targets apply to all winners, whether European or foreign.

The band would be divided into six blocks. Two would serve a secure government system linked to IRIS², the EU's planned satellite constellation (EPRS). That leaves four commercial blocks. The proposal gives two of them priority for EU-controlled newcomers and opens the other two to foreign firms that meet security and data conditions (Commission proposal, EPRS). A non-European operator could bid, but it would start behind for half of the commercial capacity.

Why SpaceX wants a place

The current rights belong to Viasat and EchoStar, which the EU selected in 2009 (EPRS). In September 2025, EchoStar agreed to sell spectrum assets to SpaceX. The deal's schedule explicitly lists the pan-European 2 GHz authorisation (SEC filing). A sales contract does not transfer an EU licence, however, and the record shows no approved transfer. Even with one, buying a permit close to expiry would not decide who wins the rights that follow.

SpaceX has pushed back on the design. In a submission reported in July, it warned that limiting foreign providers to the open blocks could degrade service. It also said the split could cause interference along borders such as Poland's with Ukraine (Le Monde). These are company claims, and nobody has tested them independently.

The European side of the preference has potential takers. Telefónica, Orange, Vodafone and Deutsche Telekom have held exploratory talks on a joint bid (Politico). The EU's own constellation will come later, with the first IRIS² satellites planned for 2029 (ESA). A preference for EU-controlled operators only matters if one of them can build a working service.

Who decides, and what the governments' text would do

The European Parliament and the member states, acting through the Council of the EU (where national governments negotiate laws), must both approve the regulation. Parliament's industry committee, where Austrian MEP Angelika Winzig leads the file, had not voted by 18 October (Parliament procedure file). After the law passes, the Commission would still have to run a selection and choose the winners.

The governments' position is clearer. Ireland, which chairs the Council talks, tabled a compromise on 24 September that narrows a proposed two-year extension for the current licence holders (Council compromise). The larger change concerns the European priority. It moves out of the law's binding articles and into its recitals, the explanatory preamble that guides interpretation. The governments' text would therefore express a preference for EU-controlled firms without reserving those two blocks for them.

Puzder is threatening a rule that is still being written. Lawmakers are considering a European preference, but under the current Council wording it would guide the Commission rather than bind it. No European firm would be guaranteed an award, and SpaceX could compete for all four commercial blocks. Parliament and the member states will decide whether that preference becomes a binding allocation.