Why the Battle for AWS-4 Matters
Synthetic Wisdom Research Exclusive
The race for technological supremacy between the United States and China has entered a critical new phase. While headlines focus on AI and semiconductor manufacturing, a less visible but potentially more consequential battle is unfolding in the integration of satellite and terrestrial networks—specifically, Non-Terrestrial Network (NTN) integration for 5G Advanced and 6G technologies.
Make no mistake: this is not merely a commercial competition. It's a strategic contest with profound implications for national security, economic prosperity, and global influence in the coming decades.
China has made its ambitions clear. Through coordinated state-backed initiatives like "China Standards 2035" and its 14th Five-Year Plan, Beijing has prioritized not just the deployment of advanced telecommunications infrastructure, but control over the technical standards that will govern next-generation networks. Their strategy explicitly targets integrated space-ground networks as a domain where China intends to establish dominance.
Meanwhile, in the United States, a critical asset in this competition—Echostar's S-Band/AWS-4 spectrum—remains caught in regulatory limbo. This spectrum represents one of America's most promising platforms for deploying the satellite-to-device capabilities that will define 5G Advanced and 6G networks. Yet as the FCC scrutinizes build-out requirements and compliance disputes drag on, valuable time is being lost in a race where speed is everything. The S-Band/AWS-4 spectrum is inextricably linked with the world’s largest Open RAN terrestrial network. It must be viewed as a strategic and integrated whole, rather than a fungible stand-alone spectrum band.
Regulatory Battlefield: The Stakes for American Leadership
While America debates regulatory minutiae, China executes a coordinated national strategy for telecommunications dominance. The contrast couldn't be more stark—or more concerning.
Echostar's AWS-4/S-Band spectrum represents 40 MHz of prime mid-band frequencies—exactly the type of spectrum assets China is deploying at breakneck speed. Yet this American resource remains underutilized, caught in a regulatory web that prioritizes procedural compliance over strategic outcomes.
The story begins with the FCC's 2012 AWS-4 Order, which granted terrestrial flexibility to what had been satellite spectrum. This forward-looking decision should have accelerated American leadership in integrated networks. Instead, a decade of build-out extensions, compliance disputes, and regulatory uncertainty has followed.
The latest chapter in this saga unfolded in May 2025, when the FCC initiated yet another review of Echostar's compliance with build-out requirements. This comes at precisely the moment when Echostar has announced the completion of critical 3GPP standards for Direct-to-Device satellite communications—standards that could position America at the forefront of 5G Advanced and 6G development.
"The integration of terrestrial and satellite networks represents the most significant architectural evolution in telecommunications since the advent of cellular systems. Whoever leads this integration will define the next generation of global connectivity." — Dr. Jeffrey Reed, Virginia Tech Wireless Research Center
Meanwhile, China has made standards development a national priority. Their "China Standards 2035" plan explicitly targets telecommunications as a domain where China intends to set global rules. Through coordinated participation in bodies like 3GPP and the ITU, Chinese entities are systematically working to ensure that future network architectures reflect their technical approaches—and by extension, their values and interests.
Chinese companies have filed over 40% of all technical contributions related to satellite-terrestrial integration in 3GPP Release 18, compared to approximately 20% from U.S. entities. Their national champion companies receive coordinated state support to develop and deploy these technologies domestically, creating scale advantages that translate into standards influence.
The NTN Game-Changer: Why Satellite-to-Phone Integration Will Define the Next Tech Era
Non-Terrestrial Network integration isn't just another incremental telecommunications advancement—it represents a fundamental paradigm shift that will define 5G Advanced and 6G technologies. By enabling direct satellite-to-device communication without specialized equipment, NTN integration eliminates the traditional boundaries between terrestrial and satellite networks, creating truly ubiquitous connectivity.
This isn't science fiction. The 3GPP standards are now complete, and Echostar has already "launched a LEO satellite with several more planned in the coming months," according to their recent disclosures. We stand at the threshold of a new era in telecommunications—if we choose to seize it.
China clearly understands the strategic importance of this capability. Their "East-West" strategy explicitly targets integrated space-ground networks as a domain for Chinese leadership. Through companies like China Satellite Network Group (a state-backed enterprise formed in 2021), Beijing is pursuing an aggressive deployment schedule for satellite constellations specifically designed for direct-to-device communications.
The strategic implications are profound:
Military and Intelligence Applications: Hybrid networks offer unprecedented resilience against traditional infrastructure attacks and enable communications in denied environments—a capability with obvious national security implications.
Global Digital Infrastructure Leadership: As developing nations build out their digital infrastructure, they will likely adopt the most advanced available technologies. The provider of these technologies gains long-term influence over critical information pathways.
Industrial Advantage: IoT applications leveraging ubiquitous connectivity will transform industries from agriculture to logistics to manufacturing. The nation that sets these standards will have a first-mover advantage in developing the next generation of industrial applications.
"China's approach to 5G Advanced and 6G is explicitly tied to their broader geopolitical ambitions. They view telecommunications standards not just as technical specifications, but as instruments of national power." — Blair Levin, Former FCC Chief of Staff
The United States, through Echostar's spectrum position and standards work, currently holds a potential advantage. The combination of AWS-4/S-Band spectrum, completed 3GPP standards, and American leadership in satellite technology creates a foundation for leadership—if regulatory hurdles can be overcome.
But this advantage is perishable. Every month spent in regulatory disputes rather than deployment widens the window for Chinese competitors to catch up. The recently completed standards represent a starting line, not a finish line, in this critical race.
Policy Imperatives: Securing America's Technological Future
The window for American leadership in integrated terrestrial-satellite networks is rapidly closing. While the U.S. possesses the technical capabilities and spectrum resources to lead, our fragmented regulatory approach threatens to squander this advantage. We need immediate policy action on multiple fronts.
First, the FCC must recognize that traditional build-out requirements designed for terrestrial-only networks may be counterproductive when applied to hybrid terrestrial-satellite deployments. The current review of Echostar's compliance should be reframed as an opportunity to develop a new regulatory paradigm that prioritizes deployment speed over procedural compliance and recognizes the strategic importance of NTN integration.
Second, the U.S. needs a coordinated national strategy for 5G Advanced and 6G leadership that explicitly includes NTN integration. This should include targeted R&D funding, procurement commitments from government agencies, regulatory fast-tracks for critical technologies, and coordinated standards participation across government and industry.
"EchoStar has deployed the world's largest 5G Open RAN network, with 24,000 5G sites, and offers broadband service to over 268 million people nationwide... With D2D 3GPP standards now complete, EchoStar has the global capability in terms of expertise, spectrum, and ITU priority to bring this to fruition." — Echostar Corporation, Form 8-K (May 13, 2025)
Third, American companies need coordinated support in global standards bodies. The completion of initial NTN standards for Direct-to-Device is just the beginning. Implementation will require ongoing standardization work, and the technical approaches adopted will have long-lasting implications for market access, security, and interoperability.
Finally, policymakers must consider whether current market structures are conducive to American leadership in this critical domain. Echostar's unique position—combining terrestrial and satellite capabilities—represents an important alternative path that deserves policy support.
Industry analysts project the market for integrated terrestrial-satellite services to reach $30 billion annually by 2030, with applications spanning consumer communications, IoT, autonomous vehicles, and defense. The "first mover advantage" in telecommunications standards typically translates to a 30-40% market share premium for equipment vendors and a significant innovation edge for the host country's technology ecosystem.
America's Moment of Decision
The race for leadership in integrated terrestrial-satellite networks isn't just another technology competition—it's a contest that will shape global telecommunications infrastructure for decades to come. The stakes couldn't be higher: economic prosperity, national security, and the values embedded in tomorrow's networks all hang in the balance.
America stands at a critical inflection point. We possess the technical capabilities, spectrum resources, and innovative capacity to lead this transformation. The recent completion of 3GPP standards for Direct-to-Device satellite communications—standards that Echostar helped develop—represents a significant achievement and potential competitive advantage.
But this advantage is perishable. While the United States debates regulatory compliance and build-out metrics, China is executing a coordinated national strategy to dominate integrated network technologies. Their approach combines aggressive deployment timelines, standards body influence, and state-backed financing to establish leadership in 5G Advanced and 6G technologies.
The time for half-measures and business-as-usual regulatory approaches has passed. We need immediate, decisive action on regulatory realignment, national strategy development, standards coordination, public-private partnerships, and market structure reform.
The window for action is closing rapidly. If we continue to treat telecommunications as merely a commercial or regulatory matter rather than a strategic imperative, we risk ceding leadership to China—with profound consequences for American prosperity, security, and values.
The most resilient, scalable, and user-friendly networks of the future won’t be just terrestrial or satellite. They will be both. And they will be built that way from the beginning. Echostar is the only company in the world with the ability to tightly integrate and deploy a 3GPP-compliant satellite and terrestrial network. This is a unique and valuable American asset.
The question isn't whether integrated terrestrial-satellite networks will define the next era of telecommunications. The question is whether those networks will be built on American or Chinese terms. The answer depends on the choices we make today.