Qualcomm has secured an extended contract with SpaceX to supply radio equipment, baseband units and software for Starlink Mobile’s planned countrywide ground-based 5G infrastructure as the Elon Musk-led space company aims to disrupt telecom incumbents.
On Wednesday, the equipment was scheduled to be deployed across tens of thousands of macro cell sites countrywide starting in 2027.
While the company did not reveal the financial terms of the agreement it said this is our biggest 5G deal this time. The deal will expand the market footprint of Qualcomm, a titan renowned for engineering the processors at the heart of modern smartphones in the telecom infrastructure market where it will compete with Marvell, Broadcom and Intel.
Qualcomm said the equipment offers a scalable architecture for a multi-band network enabling a phased rollout which can be deployed in stages.
The initial rollout will focus on terrestrial 5G with the hardware offering a scalable architecture for a multi-band network enabling a phased rollout. The company’s radio technology is designed to improve coverage, capacity and the amount of data that can be transmitted over a given amount of spectrum. Furthermore, advanced beamforming technology will help steer wireless signals toward users, allowing SpaceX to optimize its licensed spectrum.
