The FCC cleared Amazon's $11.5B Globalstar deal — buying the spectrum Apple's iPhones use for satellite SOS

The FCC's Space Bureau approved Amazon Leo's acquisition of Globalstar on 27 October, ending the agency's review of the roughly $11.5 billion deal announced in the spring. The transfer covers about 25 MHz of Globalstar's internationally harmonised mobile-satellite spectrum and its fleet of roughly two dozen satellites, and the FCC also cleared Globalstar's next-generation constellation, which Amazon may build and launch under that grant once the deal closes. The FCC found the transaction likely to improve coverage in unserved and underserved areas and strengthen emergency communications, and required Amazon to keep honouring Globalstar's existing agreements with US defence and law-enforcement agencies. Amazon will acquire Apple's stake in Globalstar — Apple accounted for most of Globalstar's revenue last year — and has agreed with Apple to keep providing satellite services, including Emergency SOS, for iPhone and Apple Watch. Closing is expected in 2027.

Why it matters

Direct-to-phone satellite service is limited less by satellites than by spectrum: frequencies that ordinary handsets can use and that regulators will license for space. There are few such bands, and the two largest constellations have now each bought their way in. SpaceX agreed in 2025 to buy spectrum licences from EchoStar; Amazon is buying Globalstar's. In July Amazon filed for a 5,105-satellite direct-to-device network to run on exactly this spectrum, so the approval removes the regulatory question from that plan, though not the engineering or the timeline — deployment was slated to begin in 2028.

The Apple piece is the commercial hinge. Globalstar's business is, in practice, Apple's satellite features. Amazon inherits that customer and the obligation to serve it, which gives its network revenue and hundreds of millions of compatible devices from the day the deal closes, before a single new satellite is launched.

What to watch

Closing in 2027, whether other regulators raise conditions, Amazon's first direct-to-device satellite launches, and whether Apple's satellite features change once Amazon runs the network.