EchoStar has agreed to sell the company's AWS-4 and H-block spectrum licenses to SpaceX in a transaction worth $17 billion.

The deal , which consists of $8.5 billion in cash and $8.5 billion in SpaceX stock, will grant SpaceX 50 MHz of exclusive S-band spectrum in the US, as well as global Mobile Satellite Service licenses.

"This agreement will enable us to develop and deploy our next generation Starlink Direct to Cell constellation, which will be capable of providing broadband service to cell phones globally," SpaceX said .

Musk's rocketeers currently have more than 600 Starlink Direct to Cell satellites in orbit, and the next generation of spacecraft will, according to the biz, be designed to make full use of the spectrum. SpaceX has suggested figures such as 20 times the throughput o

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