Dish Feuds With SpaceX Over Starlink Dishes Being Used on Moving Boats, Cars

[Jdege]

Dish Feuds With SpaceX Over Starlink Dishes Being Used on Moving Boats, Cars
Dish Network claims SpaceX violates FCC rules by tacitly encouraging users to use Starlink dishes on moving vehicles when it doesn't have clearance to do so.

I've seen discussions concerning using SpaceX on boats, and never a mention of FCC rules.

[redneckrob]

Originally Posted by Jdege

Dish Feuds With SpaceX Over Starlink Dishes Being Used on Moving Boats, Cars
Dish Network claims SpaceX violates FCC rules by tacitly encouraging users to use Starlink dishes on moving vehicles when it doesn't have clearance to do so.

I've seen discussions concerning using SpaceX on boats, and never a mention of FCC rules.

They don't have a mobile license yet which is required for mobile applications. It is a shame to see the entrenched incumbents who have been charging obscene rates for years and have a huge technology and experience head start have decided to sue to stop innovation instead of trying to out innovate the competition.

[ThereAndBack]

"encouraging users to use Starlink dishes on moving vehicles"

Directly from the starlink website:

Does Starlink for RVs or Portability allow for in-motion use?
No. It is prohibited to use Starlink for RVs or Portability while in-motion.

Using the Starlink Kit in motion will void the limited warranty of your Kit. While our teams are actively working to make it possible to use Starlink on moving vehicles, Starlink is not yet configured to be safely used in this way.

If you can't beat their service, beat them in the courts. Shady.

[GordMay]

I suppose the rules are for other folk.


To learn who rules over you, simply find out who you are not allowed to criticise.
We need to rise up against children with leukaemia.

FWIW, I have two unwritten rules.
1.
2

[denverd0n]

Dish has paid for the licenses so that they can offer mobile service. They have been paying for these licenses for many years now. And somehow THEY are the bad guys if they think that Starlink should have to play by the same rules!?!

Nope. I'm not seeing it.

And even if it says in the small print that you shouldn't use Starlink while you are moving, we all know that they HAVE been talking about how it can be used that way. Heck! There are probably ten different threads on this forum alone about using Starlink underway, from the middle of the ocean.

[crayiii]

How the hell does the FCC have the ability to regulate a satellite signal being received on a boat in international waters?

[Jammer]

Originally Posted by denverd0n

Dish has paid for the licenses so that they can offer mobile service. They have been paying for these licenses for many years now. And somehow THEY are the bad guys if they think that Starlink should have to play by the same rules!?!

Nope. I'm not seeing it.

Dish offers a much slower service using an older technology. IIRC the uplink requires a good deal of power for not much capacity. It is not as though they paid for exclusive licenses or that Starlink is somehow degrading their service. They just don't like the competition and are trying to kick sand into the gears.



Getting FCC approval for new use cases is time consuming and politicized (ask me how I know). It is generally not a matter of money.

[redneckrob]

Originally Posted by denverd0n

Dish has paid for the licenses so that they can offer mobile service. They have been paying for these licenses for many years now. And somehow THEY are the bad guys if they think that Starlink should have to play by the same rules!?!

Nope. I'm not seeing it.

And even if it says in the small print that you shouldn't use Starlink while you are moving, we all know that they HAVE been talking about how it can be used that way. Heck! There are probably ten different threads on this forum alone about using Starlink underway, from the middle of the ocean.

If there is a "fee" foe the license it is nominal. I don’t know what the length of time a company has paid a minimal fee has to do with anything other than an attempt in this case to stifle innovation in favor of a oligopy? Obviously Starlink needs to get a mobile license and I am sure is going through the lengthy process to do that now. Their competition suing them is, as I mentioned, just a poor response to innovation by a dead man walking who is about to lose their cash cow and decided that rather than compete they will try to stop others from competing. Monopolistic behavior is hard to support......

[wholybee]

Originally Posted by crayiii

How the hell does the FCC have the ability to regulate a satellite signal being received on a boat in international waters?

If the boat is US flagged it most
certainly does. And if the uplink is on US soil, it certainly does.

If other countries are involved, those countries have similar, if not more strict, requirements.

[GordMay]

Originally Posted by Jammer

... Getting FCC approval for new use cases is time consuming and politicized (ask me how I know). It is generally not a matter of money.

How do you know?

[wholybee]

Dish is doing what every incumbent provider should be expected to. A new player comes to market, and threatens to dominate and become the new monopoly. So the incumbents of course are going to make sure rules are followed. It does not stifle innovation, it gives others a fair chance to launch/upgrade services and ensure competition.

It's not a big deal, really. Starlink will get the license, and other providers will make their upgrade, and we all win with lower prices.

[crayiii]

Originally Posted by wholybee

If the boat is US flagged it most
certainly does. And if the uplink is on US soil, it certainly does.

If other countries are involved, those countries have similar, if not more strict, requirements.

I didn’t say they don’t. It’s just another example of an over reaching government stifling innovation.

[CaptTom]

Originally Posted by wholybee

It's not a big deal, really. Starlink will get the license, and other providers will make their upgrade, and we all win with lower prices.

Yes, but providers like Dish don't have the hardware to "upgrade." They are essentially at a dead end. It certainly seems like they are just trying to delay the inevitable using the courts. That may be what's expected, but it sure feels an abuse of the system.

[AKA-None]

Originally Posted by wholybee

Dish is doing what every incumbent provider should be expected to. A new player comes to market, and threatens to dominate and become the new monopoly. So the incumbents of course are going to make sure rules are followed. It does not stifle innovation, it gives others a fair chance to launch/upgrade services and ensure competition.

It's not a big deal, really. Starlink will get the license, and other providers will make their upgrade, and we all win with lower prices.

Lower prices? Hmmm I must be on the wrong planet kind of like how steaming services were supposed to be cheaper than cable, for a bit

[PippaB]

The question is, is Starlink in violation, or are users in violation of the license terms? Is Starlink required to try and detect if a user terminal is in motion? Or is it a procedural thing, the license is for stationary user terminals and users are in violation?

Starlink does have 15 (last I looked) mobile user terminal licenses in the US, they are mostly on SpaceX recovery ships.