US threatens EU with retaliation if Brussels limits Starlink's spectrum

The US ambassador to the European Union, Andrew Puzder, has warned that European companies could face retaliation in the American market if Brussels limits Starlink's access to Europe's satellite-to-phone spectrum. In an interview with the Financial Times published on 18 October, he said the consequences could be "very devastating" given the size of the US market. "You don't make European companies more competitive by making US companies less competitive," he said, as quoted by TRT World. The dispute is over who will provide direct satellite internet to ordinary phones in the EU after 2027.

What the EU wants to do

The European Commission published its proposal on 27 May. It covers the 2 GHz band for mobile satellite services, which lets a satellite connect straight to a phone or a small device with no mobile tower in between. Since 2009 the band in the EU has been held by two US companies, Viasat (through Inmarsat) and EchoStar, and their licences expire in May 2027. Instead of 27 national decisions, the Commission wants a single EU-wide selection and a new split of the band:

• one third for government use, such as critical communications, security and defence, run by an EU operator and linked to the EU's own IRIS² satellite constellation;
• one third for commercial services from EU operators entering the market;
• one third open to both EU and non-EU operators, including SpaceX and Amazon.

According to Light Reading, no operator could hold more than a 2x10 MHz block, and the current holders would get a two-year extension only for satellite IoT and in-flight services, without a new full direct-to-device service. EchoStar's European licences are due to pass to SpaceX, but under the new rules SpaceX would still have to apply again. The proposal is not law yet: the European Parliament and the Council must agree on it, and the details may change.

How each side argues

The Commission calls satellite connectivity "a key piece of our technological sovereignty, our security, and our defence" and says the plan encourages new European suppliers while staying open to companies from outside the bloc. Puzder said he accepts Europe's right to protect sensitive government data, but argued that rules aimed at weakening American competitors would not make European industry stronger. In the same interview he questioned whether multibillion-euro fines under the Digital Markets Act are about competition or about revenue.

SpaceX has also criticised the plan and warned that it could degrade connectivity in Ukraine, where Starlink carries civilian and military communications. Earlier this month SpaceX restricted Starlink for moving Ukrainian military terminals without warning. How exactly an EU rule would affect Ukraine, which is not an EU member, the reports do not say. Back in May, after the proposal came out, Brendan Carr, chairman of the US telecom regulator FCC, said that "reciprocity will continue to be the touchstone".

European telecom operators are already preparing. In September Bloomberg reported, citing unnamed sources, that Deutsche Telekom, Orange, Vodafone and Telefónica were in early talks about a joint bid for the part of the band reserved for European companies. None of them commented, and no decision has been announced.

Why it matters for ordinary users

Direct-to-device service is the satellite connection a regular phone can use where there is no network: in the mountains, at sea, after a storm or when ground infrastructure is damaged. It does not go through a local internet provider. Whoever wins the 2 GHz band will decide which of these services Europeans can buy from 2027, and on what terms. If the EU and US cannot agree, the choice in Europe may be narrower, and the dispute over satellites could spill into a wider trade conflict.