Charlie Ergen, founder of Hughesnet parent company EchoStar, also says he asked SpaceX to create satellites for his company eight years ago, but they declined.
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Hughesnet was once a top provider of satellite internet. But on Monday, the CEO of its parent company, EchoStar, recognized what many already know: SpaceX’s Starlink surpassed Hughesnet long ago to become the industry’s top dog.
“First of all, we think that SpaceX is the undisputed leader in the marketplace in terms of connectivity for internet today using Starlink,” EchoStar CEO Hamid Akhavan said during an investor presentation.
A slide from Akhavan’s presentation also calls SpaceX the “marketplace leader in satellite internet connectivity.” The statements are surprising since Hughesnet continues to compete with Starlink for satellite internet users.
However, EchoStar and SpaceX recently became partners. Last week, the company agreed to sell a 50MHz block of valuable radio spectrum rights to SpaceX in exchange for $17 billion in cash and stock. In addition, EchoStar’s BoostMobile brand is also gaining access to SpaceX’s cellular Starlink service, giving it a way to beam connectivity to users in dead zones.
The statements also underscore SpaceX’s growing dominance in the satellite internet industry.
