SpaceX, T-Mobile set to announce plans to ‘increase connectivity’

HAWTHORNE, Calif./BELLEVUE, Wash. (UPI) — SpaceX and T-Mobile made an announcement Thursday evening that they claim will increase connectivity across the United States.

Both companies, along with SpaceX CEO Elon Musk, announced the event on their Twitter accounts. The event began at 8:00 p.m. ET via SpaceX’s website.

“Elon and T-Mobile’s Mike Sievert will announce plans to increase connectivity,” SpaceX said in the tweet. It was later retweeted by the T-Mobile account.

According to ZDNet, the announcement could be linked to SpaceX’s dispute with Dish Network and the Federal Communications Commission. The dispute was over a proposed allocation of spectrum for 5G.

The FCC has considered opening up the 12GHz band for 5G operators. SpaceX currently uses that band. SpaceX said that forcibly sharing it could result in service outages 74% of the time.

Earlier this month, the FCC rejected SpaceX’s Starlink application for $885 million from the Rural Digital Opportunity Fund Program. They said that it failed to demonstrate that it could deliver the service.

“We must put scarce universal service dollars to their best possible use as we move into a digital future that demands ever more powerful and faster networks,” FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel said. “We cannot afford to subsidize ventures that are not delivering the promised speeds or are not likely to meet program requirements.”

Matt Bernardini, United Press International

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Matt Bernardini is a freelance reporter writing for United Press International.

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