LEO Satellite Broadband & Spectrum Allocation Modeler

Constellation & Regulatory Setup

Scenarios

Spectrum Allocation Model

Administrative

Global Standard (ITU Rec.)

Auction Model

Incumbent Preferred

Orbital Altitude (LEO Shell) 550 km

Constellation Shell Size 4,408 sats

User Terminal Elevation Angle 25°

Domestic Gateway Ground Stations 6 sites

Spectrum Fee / License Burden $15M / yr

Terminal Cost to Consumer $350

Beam Slant Range

685 km

Space-to-Earth RTT

24.2 ms

Coverage Footprint

820 km dia

Sim Speed

1.0x Real-time

LEO Satellites (Active Beam)

Ground Station Gateway

User Phased Array Terminal

Ku/Ka Band Steerable Spot Beams

Est. Slant Round-Trip Latency

24.8 ms

✓ Broadband & VoIP qualified (<50ms)

Monthly Break-Even ARPU

$26.40 / mo

vs. $3.20 typical 4G/5G mobile

Aggregate Domestic Throughput

150 Gbps

37.5k Concurrent 4Mbps Streams

Regulatory Market Entry Friction

Favorable

ITU shared administrative route

Policy Breakdown: Administrative Spectrum vs. Spectrum Auction

Evaluation Dimension	Administrative Assignment (Global ITU Norm)	Auction / Protectionist Tariff Model	Current Simulator Impact
Spectrum Pricing	Formulaic administrative fee based on shared band utilization.	Multi-billion dollar upfront bids, similar to exclusive cellular 5G blocks.	Favorable Capex
Frequency Sharing	Multiple non-geostationary operators (Starlink, OneWeb, Kuiper) share Ku/Ka frequencies via angle separation.	Exclusive slice locks out competition, creating domestic telco duopolies.	Multi-Operator Sharing
Consumer Affordability	Lower fixed regulatory overhead allows sub-$30/mo rural internet pricing.	Auction debt passed to consumers, forcing $80+/mo retail plans in developing markets.	Affordable Consumer ARPU
Rural & Remote Penetration	Immediate deployment across unserved tribal, border, and island regions without laying fiber.	Delayed 2-4 years while litigation, reserve price disputes, and oligopoly lobbying persist.	Immediate Rollout

The Mechanics of Low Earth Orbit (LEO) vs. Terrestrial Telecom Duopolies

Satellite broadband fundamentally operates on different physics and regulatory principles than terrestrial mobile networks (4G/5G). Unlike cellular carriers who require exclusive territorial spectrum bands to prevent tower-to-tower interference, Non-Geostationary Satellite Orbit (NGSO) constellations utilize high-frequency Ku (12–18 GHz) and Ka (26.5–40 GHz) bands with directional phased-array beams that can coordinate frequencies dynamically based on orbital mechanics.

Why Administrative Allocation is the ITU Standard: Satellite spectrum cannot be divided into territorial auction slices because LEO satellites travel at 27,000 km/h, crossing national borders every 90 minutes. Global bodies like the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) and national regulators like the US FCC allocate spectrum through shared power-flux density (PFD) limits rather than territorial auctions.

The Incumbent Telco Dilemma: In nations with high mobile data adoption but poor fiber backhaul, domestic telecom conglomerates have historically spent billions on exclusive 5G spectrum auctions. When global LEO operators propose direct satellite-to-home broadband via nominal administrative license fees, incumbents often lobby to mandate competitive auctions as an artificial barrier to entry.