The US ambassador to the European Union, Andrew Puzder, has warned that European companies could face “very devastating” retaliation in the US market if Brussels goes ahead with a plan to reserve much of a key satellite-to-smartphone spectrum band for European operators. He made the comments in an interview with the Financial Times released on Sunday, October 18, 2026, as reported by Anadolu Agency.
What the EU is proposing
The fight is over the 2 GHz band used for direct-to-device satellite service. Licences for it have been held by American operators Viasat and EchoStar since 2009 and expire in 2027. In May, the European Commission proposed splitting the band into three 10 MHz blocks for the next 20 years, according to POLITICO: one reserved for secure government communications, including the EU’s planned IRIS² constellation, one earmarked for European startups, and one open to either European or non-European companies. That would leave US firms such as SpaceX’s Starlink and Amazon Leo competing for, at best, a third of the band. The plan still has to pass the European Parliament and EU member governments.
What Puzder said
Puzder said Europe has the right to protect sensitive government communications, but argued legislation shouldn’t be used to disadvantage American competitors. “You don’t make European companies more competitive by making US companies less competitive,” he said. He also questioned whether EU enforcement of the Digital Markets Act is really about competition, and urged Brussels and Washington to work together against China on AI and quantum computing.
SpaceX’s position
SpaceX has criticized the proposal, warning it could hurt connectivity in Ukraine, where Starlink has been central to civilian and military communications. The dispute adds to pressure in Europe to build home-grown alternatives, such as Poland’s plan for its own Starlink-style network.
Sources: Anadolu Agency, Financial Times, POLITICO Europe