Ofcom Propose to Boost Starlink’s UK Satellite Broadband with E Band
The UK telecoms regulator, Ofcom, has today proposed to grant SpaceX’s Starlink service “temporary authorisation” to harness the E band frequencies for their mega constellation of compact ultrafast broadband satellites in Low Earth Orbit (LEO). The move would expand their backhaul capacity at three gateway earth station sites within the UK.
At present Starlink has around 7,580 satellites in Low Earth Orbit (c.3,880 are v2 Mini / GEN 2A) – mostly at altitudes of c.500-600km – and they’ll add thousands more by the end of 2027. Residential customers in the UK typically pay from £75 a month, plus £299 for hardware on the ‘Standard’ unlimited data plan (currently free in some areas on a 12-month term), which promises latency times of 25-60ms, downloads of 25-100Mbps and uploads of 5-10Mbps.
However, Starlink’s growing network is in need of new capacity to support its expansion, which has resulted in the company requesting temporary authorisation to use E band (71-76GHz and 81-86GHz) spectrum at three of its existing gateway sites: Morn Hill (Hampshire), Wherstead (Suffolk) and Woodwalton (Cambridgeshire).
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The regulator has today proposed to grant these temporary authorisations, which would expire on 31st December 2028. But they would be subject to some technical conditions in order to protect existing uses for Fixed Service and the Earth Exploration Satellite Service (passive).
The reason for this being only a temporary measure is because Ofcom are still in the process of developing their plans for making spectrum in the Q, V and E bands available for satellite gateways. But given Starlink’s request for the spectrum, Ofcom has decided to phase this work, although they still plan to consult on the longer-term authorisation of gateways in E band in 2028 – following the next World Radiocommunication Conference in 2027 (WRC-27). The regulator also still intends to make the Q/V bands available for satellite gateways and they’ll consult on that in Q2 2025/6.
“We consider that, subject to these conditions, issuing these licences on a temporary basis should not unduly affect other services using E band and adjacent frequencies,” said Ofcom’s statement. The proposal is currently subject to consultation until 27th June 2025. The final decision would then, short of any unexpected delays, be confirmed on Q2 2025/6.
Mark is a professional technology writer, IT consultant and computer engineer from Dorset (England), he also founded ISPreview in 1999 and enjoys analysing the latest telecoms and broadband developments. Find me on X (Twitter), Mastodon, Facebook, BlueSky, Threads.net and Linkedin.
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FYI, the two giant car ads covered part of the text about WRC.
Why am I thinking Perry Como ?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_VJlHWESyLI
My very good friend Microsoft Co-pilot tells me the following:-
QUESTION: How many Starlink telecommunications satellites are falling back to Earth each year ? And how many have already re-entered the Earth’s atmosphere since the programme began ?
ANSWER: Starlink satellites are re-entering Earth’s atmosphere at an increasing rate, largely due to solar activity. Between 2020 and 2024, 523 Starlink satellites burned up upon re-entry1
. In January 2025 alone, 120 satellites fell back to Earth2
. Scientists predict that soon, satellites will be re-entering every day1
.
The Sun’s geomagnetic storms are accelerating this process, shortening satellite lifespans by up to 10 days3
. While most satellites burn up completely, there have been rare cases of debris surviving re-entry1
Whose asking the grown-up cost-benefit questions at Government level ? Viz . . . the cost of laying fibre optic to remote areas versus the possibility that egress to Earth Orbit in future will become extremely hazardous, if not impossible, due to the orbiting debris (launchers and bits of satellite). Quite brilliant.
The ultimate target for Starlink satellites in orbit at any one time is 42,000 With a life span of about 5 years that means 8,000 will be “De-orbited” every year and an equivalent number launched just to maintain the system coverage. High flying passenger carrier crew are reporting seeing these things re-entering the atmosphere. Won’t be long before one knocks down an aircraft.
Can you imagine the orbiting space debris that will be created top-stages of launchers, satellite that decline to be de-orbited. Its going to severely increase the hazard for anything else being launched.
And guess what, the reinforced pressurised tanks used to store the propellant for the orbital ion manouevering jets are made on titanium which has a melting point well above steel and aluminium and may withstand complete ablation on re-entry
Yet the iridium system orbits at a higher altitude from Earth, and each unit has a life of 12-17 years
Why are these cost-benefit comparisons not being undertaken ?