Pantelis Michalopoulos

202 429 6494

[email protected]

1330 Connecticut Avenue, NW

Washington, DC 20036-1795
202 429 3000 main
www.steptoe.com

June 7, 2022

BY ELECTRONIC FILING

Marlene Dortch
Secretary
Federal Communications Commission
45 L Street NE
Washington, DC 20554

Re: Starlink Unauthorized Mobile Operations, SES-LIC-20210803-01361, Call Sign

E210310; SES-LIC-20210803-01360, E210309; 0190-EX-CN-2022, WM2XNK; WT
Docket No. 20-443; GN Docket No. 17-183

Dear Ms. Dortch:

DISH Network Corporation (“DISH”) is writing to request the Commission’s assistance

in stopping SpaceX’s unauthorized transmissions by Earth Stations in Motion (“ESIMs”). The
Commission’s intervention is necessary: SpaceX has failed to retract statements encouraging
these transmissions, and indeed has failed to even respond to DISH’s request on that subject; an
increasing number of Starlink users are acting on SpaceX’s call to unauthorized activity, and are
using their Starlink terminals in motion; and some of them are enthusiastically telling the world
about it, further propagating the idea that nothing is wrong with this violation of Commission
rules.

On May 27, 2022, DISH wrote to SpaceX’s General Counsel to alert him to recent public
statements made by SpaceX and its Chief Executive Officer strongly suggesting that SpaceX is
violating the rules of the Commission, including the need for Commission authority before
SpaceX’s Starlink system may communicate with ESIMs and the prohibition on any company
engaging in such communications in the 12.2-12.7 GHz (“12 GHz”) band. 1 What is more, DISH
explained, these statements actively encourage and solicit Starlink customers to break these
rules. Among other things, it exposes SpaceX to liability for violating Commission rules and
possibly for damaging private parties. ESIM communications on Starlink increase the potential
for interference with the satellite television service received from DISH by millions of
households. Starlink ESIMs may activate Starlink beams in areas where satellites would not
otherwise have been active, threatening satellite television customers in the area. DISH therefore

1
See Letter from Pantelis Michalopoulos, Counsel for DISH, to David Harris, SpaceX (May 27, 2022),
attached to Letter from Pantelis Michalopoulos, Counsel for DISH, to Marlene Dortch, FCC, File Nos.
SES-LIC-20210803-01361, Call Sign E210310; SES-LIC-20210309-00698, Call Sign E210092; SES-
AMD-20210731-01295, E210092; SES-LIC-20210803-01360, E210309; 0190-EX-CN-2022, WM2XNK
(May 31, 2022).
Marlene Dortch
June 7, 2022
Page 2

asked SpaceX that it immediately retract these statements and clarify that Starlink ESIM
operations are not legal and no customer should try them, by using media of equal reach to the
ones where these statements were made.

SpaceX has not responded to DISH. In the meantime, more evidence has emerged of
Starlink users engaging in unauthorized use of their Starlink terminals while in moving vehicles
including while boating, and in trucks, cars, and recreational vehicles. The following examples
of this behavior, taken from public internet postings that have been viewed between them
hundreds of thousands of times, likely represent only the tip of the iceberg: many others are
likely doing the same without posting about it on social media, and many among the viewers are
likely to emulate the unauthorized operations.

While boating:

• “Starlink Speedtest on a Sailboat in Motion.” 2

• “Works wonderfully on my boat in motion.” 3

• “Does StarLink work on a boat in motion? Why yes. Yes it does.” 4

2
NdiliTechnologies, Starlink Speedtest on a Sailboat in Motion, YouTube (Mar. 25, 2022),
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ISCt2U5VKrc (50,403 views as of June 7, 2022).
3
Comment by u/Person_reddit (May 24, 2022), u/PositiveSplit6483, Starlink works in motion, Reddit
(May 24, 2022), https://www.reddit.com/r/Starlink/comments/uwroll/comment/i9uedl9.
4
u/eggplant_zoo, Does StarLink work on a boat in motion? Why yes. Yes it does., Reddit (May 12, 2022),
https://www.reddit.com/r/Starlink/comments/uo81t3/does_starlink_work_on_a_boat_in_motion_why_yes
.
Marlene Dortch
June 7, 2022
Page 3

• “Dishy on a boat. Travelling at 9 knots.” 5

In cars:

• “Starlink Storm Chasing - Mobility/Portability ultimate test” (noting “[t]his

however confirms Elon Musk's tweet that in-motion use works, and I figured as a
reviewer of Starlink, I need to test his claims.”) 6

• “Enjoying Starlink while driving my Tesla” 7

• “[T]hese were the numbers I was getting with my Starlink while I was driving
through Vermont” 8

• “I’ve had Starlink (standard service) mounted on my van for last couple months.
It works when driving. Even at highway speeds.” 9

In trucks and RVs:

• User noting that he has been watching streaming video using Starlink “since
Shelby, North Carolina all the way to Newton . . . it is like 44 miles through
country roads.” 10

5
u/juniorbomber, Dishy on a boat. Travelling at 9 knots., Reddit (May 30, 2022),
https://www.reddit.com/r/Starlink/comments/v1fnse/dishy_on_a_boat_travelling_at_9_knots.
6
TheNStew, Starlink Storm Chasing - Mobility/Portability ultimate test, YouTube (June 2, 2022),
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kOQI6-D-gs0; see also Jason Hughes (@wk057), Twitter (May 5,
2022 9:49 AM ET), https://twitter.com/wk057/status/1522212009483415552 (“Am I the only one that
reads this [Starlink terms of service] as, “We're not saying it _won't work_ in motion... we just don't really
want you to do that right now.” ? Guess I'll have to test this.”).
7
Anthony Cornrod (@TWIT_ANTHONY), Twitter (Apr. 25, 2022 8:43PM ET),
https://twitter.com/TWIT_ANTHONY/status/1518752581891284994.
8
Matt Carroll (@cherball1890), Twitter (May 6, 2022 7:42PM ET),
https://twitter.com/cherball1890/status/1522723554856427520.
9
Comment by u/geoffreyhuntley (May 23, 2022), u/Responsible_Half2856, Starlink for RV’s, Reddit
(May 23, 2022), https://www.reddit.com/r/Starlink/comments/uw8yjx/starlink_for_rvs/i9r5764/.
10
Matt Carroll (@cherball1890), Twitter (May 4, 2022 7:53PM ET),
https://twitter.com/cherball1890/status/1522001398208114692.
Marlene Dortch
June 7, 2022
Page 4

In response to one person noting that the Starlink user agreement does not allow mobile
use, another user responded: “I've been doing it for 9 months and haven't seen so much as an
email from them.” 11 Indeed, Mr. Musk has explicitly stated that Starlink can “maintain signal
while on moving vehicle.” 12

Mr. Musk has also stated that “you can . . . use it on an RV or truck in motion[,]”13 suggesting
that the only reason for any delay in full availability is technology, not the requirement for
Commission approval:

11
Comment by u/qwerty12qwerty (May 24, 2022), u/PositiveSplit6483, Starlink works in motion, Reddit
(May 24, 2022), https://www.reddit.com/r/Starlink/comments/uwroll/starlink_works_in_motion/i9uvun4.
12
Elon Musk (@elonmusk), Twitter (Mar. 3, 2022 12:50PM ET),
https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1499442132402130951.
13
Elon Musk (@elonmusk), Twitter (Apr. 15, 2021 7:44PM ET),
https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1382842277719003136.
Marlene Dortch
June 7, 2022
Page 5

In short, this is the unusual example of rule violations that are not kept secret but rather
proclaimed from the mountaintops of social media, as if the regulated entity wanted to force the
agency’s hand by creating a fait accompli on the ground.

And the eager user responses to SpaceX’s unfortunate exhortations identified above are
not the first ones. As DISH stated in its May 27, 2022 letter, one Starlink user has posted Mr.
Musk’s tweet that Starlink “does work on vehicles in motion.” 14 Another customer posted a
video testing the system while driving entitled “DRIVING with Starlink - MOBILE ROAMING
at 80 MPH!” 15 And they will surely not be the last ones, unless the Commission acts to stop
SpaceX’s rule violations.

Respectfully submitted,

/s/ Pantelis Michalopoulos

Pantelis Michalopoulos
Counsel to DISH Network Corporation

cc: William M. Wiltshire, Counsel for SpaceX

Tom Sullivan, Chief, International Bureau
Joel Taubenblatt, Acting Chief, Wireless Bureau
Loyaan Egal, Acting Chief, Enforcement Bureau

14
u/PositiveSplit6483, Starlink works in motion, Reddit (May 24, 2022)
https://www.reddit.com/r/Starlink/comments/uwroll/starlink_works_in_motion.
15
MikeOnSpace, DRIVING with Starlink - MOBILE ROAMING at 80 MPH!, YouTube (Mar. 13, 2022)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8PDVURcvWeg&t=357s (126,751 views as of June 7, 2022).