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Satellite constellation operator Omnispace has expressed concern to the Federal Communications Commission’s Space Bureau regarding the potential interference caused by SpaceX and T-Mobile’s proposed hybrid space-terrestrial phone service. SpaceX and T-Mobile are planning to merge the Starlink low Earth orbit satellite constellation with T-Mobile’s terrestrial wireless network in order to offer connectivity throughout the United States.

Omnispace, a venture capital-backed company that owns and operates global non-geostationary satellite infrastructure and is developing its own hybrid ground/space network for 5G and IoT services, claims that SpaceX’s satellites will create harmful interference with its receive antenna system. While SpaceX believes any interference would be transient, Omnispace argues that it will be constant, citing errors in SpaceX’s calculations.

Omnispace’s system relies on 60MHz of globally licensed spectrum in the S-Band and plans to utilize 5G non-terrestrial network technology to expand coverage for handheld and IoT devices. The company’s response to SpaceX’s presentation to the FCC was in reference to the claim made by SpaceX and T-Mobile that their partnership would provide ubiquitous connectivity without causing interference.

In its counter-response, Omnispace points out differences between the American terrestrial assignment system used by T-Mobile and the international mobile-satellite uplink-downlink allocation utilized by the International Telecommunication Union. While this may not cause issues for terrestrial infrastructure, Omnispace suggests that it generates problems for satellite infrastructure due to the proximity of satellite receivers to low-power transmitters in space.

Omnispace also accuses SpaceX of making an elementary error in calculating the aggregate interference of the SpaceX Satellite Communications System’s downlink into Omnispace’s satellite uplink. SpaceX claims this is a transient issue, assuming that only one Omnispace satellite is affected. However, because both Omnispace and SpaceX’s constellations of satellites are constantly moving in relation to each other, the interference is not transient but continuous.

Omnispace recently met with the FCC and presented evidence to support its claims. While SpaceX has received approval to deploy its Gen2 satellites, Omnispace still has to work with the company to launch its own satellites into orbit.

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