Elon Musk’s Plan to Girdle Earth With Satellites Hits Turbulence - Bloomberg

First-mover advantage; in other networking partnership news, see Microsoft and Facebook just laid a 160-terabits-per-second cable 4,100 miles across the Atlantic (Recode)

"The ITU works on a first-come, first-served basis, so operators that already secured spectrum for their constellations have priority when satellites inevitably line up with each other in space and their beams cross, threatening to cause interference. This means SpaceX will have to coordinate with rivals such as OneWeb and Telesat, which are closely held.

When the FCC proposed the ITU role in early September, it was described as a "major defeat" for SpaceX by satellite industry consultant Tim Farrar, who has advised several rivals of the startup.

OneWeb, also backed by SoftBank Group Corp., has priority in one band of spectrum outside the U.S., while Telesat has priority in another band in some parts of the world. This means SpaceX will have to restrict the power of its satellites’ signals in some cases, and possibly limit the frequencies it uses, making "it very difficult for SpaceX to provide an economically viable service outside the U.S.," Farrar said."

Elon Musk’s Plan to Girdle Earth With Satellites Hits Turbulence - Bloomberg