Latest / The Broadband Exchange / November 9, 2026: SpaceX’s progress on Starlink Mobile, a BEAD milestone, and more

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November 9, 2026: SpaceX’s progress on Starlink Mobile, a BEAD milestone, and more · The Broadband Exchange

• 0:04
  Hello and welcome. You're listening to the Broadband Exchange, the podcast from your friends at telecompetitor. I'm Ian Descher, Pivot's director of Media and Story and managing editor of telecompetitor. It's time to review this week's broadband news. Let's get into it. We'll begin with a milestone for the bead program. All 50 states have now signed their federal award agreements, along with the six participating territories. California was the last to sign, but its signature came with a significant qualification. The California Public Utilities Commission accepted its roughly $1.42 billion in bead funding while disputing a federal condition that would prevent the state from enforcing net neutrality, rate regulation and other broadband rules against bead providers and their affiliates. California said it cannot waive obligations imposed by state law or stop other state agencies from enforcing those laws. The state also said it will not sign agreements with providers until it resolves its differences with NTIA over the condition. The ntia, for its part, said California's accompanying letter does not change the federal award terms, so every state and territory has crossed the agreement signing milestone. But the disagreement in California isn't settled yet.
• 1:12
  Another federal funding story involved Charter Communications, which notified the FCC that nine Cox subsidiaries are withdrawing from the Rural Digital opportunity fund, or ARDOF. The withdrawals cover awards in nine states and involve 126 census block groups. Charter said the subsidiaries had already deployed service to a substantial number of their required locations and most of those locations are now serviceable. But the company cited speed testing and deployment milestone requirements as reasons for leaving the program. It provided the NTIA with a list of remaining unserved locations for possible bid consideration. The subsidiaries will forfeit future Ardoff support and could face non compliance penalties, although Charter reserved the right to seek relief.
• 1:56
  Ardoff defaults were also relevant to another FCC action Last week. At its recent meeting, the commission adopted a proposal for tougher vetting of companies seeking future high cost universal service funding. The rulemaking would implement the Rural Broadband Protection act, which calls for applicants to demonstrate financial, technical and operational capacity before receiving awards. The FCC is considering how to evaluate business plans, previous deployment experience and applicants records in other government broadband programs. The law also requires minimum penalties for certain defaults before support is authorized. The goal is to avoid awarding money to bidders who can't deliver what they promised.
• 2:34
  There was also news about the commission itself. 21 House Democrats urged Senate Republican leaders to pair President Trump's nomination of Daniel Thuman with the renomination of Democratic Commissioner Ana Gomez for the fcc. The FCC currently has three commissioners Chairman Brendan Carr, Olivia Trustee and Gomez. Gomez's term has expired, but she remains eligible to serve temporarily. The lawmakers argued that advancing another Republican nominee without securing continued Democratic representation would undermine the bipartisan balance intended by the Communications Act. And all of that happened before the midterm elections, so who knows what will happen after this?
• 3:15
  Turning to satellite and wireless the FCC took two steps toward expanding direct to device connectivity.
• 3:21
  First, it proposed opening additional spectrum, including the 1675-1695 megahertz band, while a federal study examines possible use of the 2020-2025 megahertz band. An eventual auction could support satellite, conventional mobile or hybrid services.
• 3:37
  Second, the commission proposed expanding the bands available for spectrum leasing under its supplemental Coverage from Space Framework. The number of eligible bands would rise from 5 to 13, adding 482 MHz of potential spectrum. Both proposals remain subject to further review and public comment.
• 3:55
  Meanwhile, AT&T, AST Space Mobile, Ericsson and Nokia reported what they called the first successful handoff between a terrestrial cellular network and a direct to device satellite network. The trial took place on a rural road near Granite Falls, Washington, at the edge of AT&T's coverage. It used ordinary smartphones and AST Space Mobile's Bluebird satellites. Ericsson supplied radio and core technology, while Nokia provided radio access and mobility software for the satellite network. A handoff that keeps a call connected as coverage changes is an important technical step, and this demonstration moves the companies closer to the goal of widely available consumer service.
• 4:34
  SpaceX had big Starlink Mobile news last week. The company selected Qualcomm to supply radio and baseband technology for a terrestrial 5G network that SpaceX intends to start deploying in 2027.
• 4:47
  The plan calls for tens of thousands of cell sites using Qualcomm's Dragon Wing platforms and massive MIMO technology.
• 4:54
  SpaceX wants the ground network to work alongside its satellite service rather than rely on satellites alone for mobile coverage. The company has not yet provided a detailed construction timetable or confirmed how many sites will be in each phase. And a separate look at Starlink Mobile that we looked into last week highlighted several hurdles behind those ambitions.
• 5:13
  SpaceX has reportedly discussed buying Boost Mobile from EchoStar, potentially giving it an established subscriber base. But industry analysts said buying Boost would not automatically give SpaceX access to Boost's wholesale network agreements with AT&T and T Mobile. Those agreements have their own restrictions. Experts also pointed to the financial and regulatory obligations of becoming a full mobile carrier, along with questions about available spectrum indoor coverage and network capacity. The satellite to phone market is moving quickly, but putting together a nationwide service is a much bigger Dr. Job than just launching a constellation.
• 5:48
  On the Fiber investment side, Oak Hill Capital agreed to buy a majority stake in Wired from Carlyle. Wired serves residential and business customers in Arizona and Southern California. Carlyle, which has controlled the company since 2021, will retain a minority stake.
• 6:04
  The companies did not disclose financial terms. They said Wired's network has grown more than 20 fold under Carlyle's ownership and that the new investment should support further expansion. The deal is expected to close in January, subject to regulatory approval and other closing conditions.
• 6:19
  Also last week, telecompetitor spoke with Gateway Fiber CEO Chris Certow for a closer look at how the company plans to use its recently announced $578 million in financing, which we talked about in the last podcast episode. Certo said Gateway is focused on expanding within its existing seven state footprint rather than rushing into additional states. He described an internal market analysis tool that brings together information on construction costs, competitors and potential customers to help the company evaluate where to build. That approach has taken Gateway beyond its original St. Louis area markets in Massachusetts. The company began construction in Falmouth on Cape Cod during the second half of 2026 and expects to connect its first customers there by year's end. Certo also sees opportunities to grow Gateway's business services and multi dwelling unit operations.
• 7:09
  As for artificial intelligence, he said the company is still in the early stages, concentrating on tools that make employees more effective and produce benefits that customers can actually see in retail Fiber News T Mobile Fiber introduced a 5 gigabit plan priced at $90 a month with autopay and plus taxes and fees. The headline feature for this plan is both the Speed and a 10 year price guarantee. T Mobile also offered new 300 megabit, 1 gigabit and 2 gigabit tiers starting at $35.55 and $70 respectively. The company positioned the longer price guarantee as an alternative to promotional rates that increase after a relatively short period. And that emphasis on price brings us to new research about why broadband customers switch providers. Compare Internet analyzed more than 4,400 Reddit posts in communities devoted to five major Internet providers, then examined a sample of residential Internet discussions in more detail.
• 8:05
  Among the posts that gave a reason for switching, 43% mentioned price or price increase. Moving accounted for 26%, while outages or unreliable service accounted for just 15%.
• 8:17
  The analysis also found differences by connection type. Price appeared more frequently in cable discussions, while speed was a more prominent topic in fixed wireless posts, and a lower bill was often a reason that people praised their providers.
• 8:30
  Of course, the caveat here is that these are self selected Reddit conversations, not a representative survey of American broadband subscribers.
• 8:38
  Still, I thought it was an interesting way to collect data, and the report offered nice qualitative evidence that customers who value reliability may be pushed to shop around by their monthly bill.
• 8:48
  Finally, a University of Phoenix whitepaper raised a concern about the rural workforce and AI.
• 8:54
  The paper wasn't directly broadband related, but we covered it since it's about how people in rural areas are using AI. The paper argued that people who develop AI skills on their own may look for opportunities in cities if local employers lack ways to recognize and use those capabilities.
• 9:10
  Drawing on national workforce research, it noted that half of workers said they were learning AI independently, while 60% wanted more guidance and 48% of employers expressed concern about retaining employees with AI skills. The paper's argument is that smaller rural employers may face particular challenges in offering training and clear career paths. Its recommendations included stronger partnerships with educators, better recognition of employees skills, and more support for managers guiding AI adoption.
• 9:40
  That's it for this week. Thank you for listening to the Broadband Exchange. As always, you can read the articles we talked about today@telecompetitor.com Feel free to drop us a line while you're there. And thank you again for joining us. We will see you next time.