Orientation summary — a fast, cited starting point, not a substitute for reading the filings. Generated from the public ECFS record.
Public comments — 2,444 filings
Sentiment of the general public's web-form comments — separate from the industry positions. 2,444 comments, 1,758 distinct versions after grouping form letters.
Bottom line: Public comments run overwhelmingly opposed. This reflects the volume of public write-in comments — not the weight of legal argument, or the standard the FCC applies.
Estimated split: 99% oppose · 1% other. Support = wants the FCC to adopt/keep the action; Oppose = wants it rejected; Unclear = neutral or off-topic.
How we know: 30% of comments are grouped form letters classified exactly; the rest are estimated from a random sample of 310 distinct comments.
Top themes
- interference with amateur radio — 448 (oppose)
- protect amateur radio band — 292 (oppose)
- spectrum allocation concerns — 244 (oppose)
- interference with operations — 223 (oppose)
- emergency communications — 90 (oppose)
- concerns over allocation — 54 (oppose)
- interference concerns — 40 (oppose)
- international allocation — 25 (oppose)
What people wrote
- OPPOSE: “AST & Science LLC (AST SpaceMobile) is operating satellites in the amateur radio spectrum, causing interference with amateur radio operations. I strongly urge you to deny their request to use amateur radio frequencies for commercial use. I personally am an amateur radio opera” — 301 filed this
- OPPOSE: “Dear Sirs, I am writing to express my concerns regarding the AST application for the use of the 430-440 MHz spectrum for Telemetry, Tracking, and Command (TT&C). This frequency range is already allocated on a primary basis in Region 1 and is actively used by various entities, i” — 113 filed this
- OPPOSE: “I am respectfully opposing the use of any portion of the 70 cm amateur radio band for commercial purposes. This band was duly allocated to amateur radio in fulfillment of the FCC’s mission and purposes of amateur radio and the latter should not be diminished or compromised. AST &” — 43 filed this
- SUPPORT: “I have been a HAM operator since 1978 (morse code days). I understand times change and the value of spectrum has increased exponentially, especially in UHF and higher ranges. I support sharing bandwidth with commercial/government operations.”
- OTHER: “I hope that AST does not activate the system over countries with a good coverage for mobile fones. e.g whole USA und EU and other countries with good coverage. Thank you Armin HB9MFL”
How this sentiment is measured
We read the public express comments from the FCC's ECFS record, group identical form letters and count them exactly, then classify a random sample of the distinct versions and extrapolate to all 2,444 comments. This is public sentiment only; it is not a measure of the legal merits or how the Commission will rule.