FCC Clears Amazon's $11.5bn Globalstar Purchase, Handing It Spectrum For Direct-to-Phone Satellites

The US Federal Communications Commission signed off on Amazon Leo's $11.5 billion acquisition of Globalstar on Tuesday, transferring roughly 25 megahertz of mobile-satellite spectrum and two dozen satellites to the e-commerce giant's low-Earth-orbit broadband arm. The approval ends a six-month review and hands Amazon the spectrum core it needs to beam connectivity straight to phones — no cell tower required.

FCC Chair Brendan Carr said the deal would improve coverage in unserved and underserved areas and strengthen emergency communications. The regulator found no material harm to the public interest. Globalstar's spectrum currently powers Emergency SOS and Find My via satellite on iPhone and Apple Watch. Apple invested $1.5 billion in Globalstar in 2024 for a 20 percent stake and accounted for about 63 percent of the satellite operator's revenue last year.

Amazon has signed an agreement with Apple to keep those services running, and the FCC said Amazon plans to buy out Apple's stake as part of the closing. The spectrum is the prize. Direct-to-device service lets ordinary phones connect to satellites without extra hardware. Amazon intends to use Globalstar's holdings to add capacity and reach places ground networks don't cover.