AT&T, T-Mobile US, and Verizon have made their satellite-focused spectrum-pooling joint venture (JV) official and named a long-time industry executive to at least temporarily head the effort.

The telecom heavyweight trio moved the initial “agreement in principle” that was announced in May to an official “joint venture agreement,” with the same mandate of “expanding coverage in underserved areas across the US.” That coverage expansion is based mostly on the pooling of spectrum resources and work toward a unified technical integration model – including mobile device specifications – designed to make it easier for satellite-based communication providers to enter the market.

The JV plans to also work with rural telecom providers to help them bring new services to market. It also reiterated that “existing carrier-satellite agreements will remain in place and the JV partners can continue connectivity efforts independently.”

Paul Roth was tapped to serve as interim CEO of the JV, “while an active search is underway for a permanent CEO." Roth has a long history in telecom, including leadership stints at Cellular One, Ameritech, Cingular Wireless, and AT&T.

That CEO position will serve under a leadership board composed of representatives from the three telecom giants.

The carriers unveiled their JV plans earlier this year, a move that rode a rocket of hype around the satellite-based communications space. That hype has only intensified, with significant acquisition activity, further telecom partnership agreements, government enablement, and opportunity claims.

JVs are cool

Despite the activity, telecom executives remain cool on satellite-based services.

AT&T CEO John Stankey last month told an investor conference audience that while there’s a place for satellite, 98 percent of current mobile service need is handled by terrestrial equipment.

“I think the bulk of use cases today, we address today on the infrastructure,” Stankey said during the Goldman Sachs Communacopia + Technology Conference. “And our job is to go find that two percent that we can address and make sure that we can bring satellite in to make sure that those are addressed.”

That’s where the JV comes into play.

“Our belief is we're all in the same position. We're addressing 98 percent of the use cases, and what we want to do is make sure that we can get the last two percent in a way that's customer-friendly,” Stankey added. “And that means all the interfaces for how satellite constellations interact with embedded infrastructure on the ground to do it in a way that it's cost-effective. And by buying in bulk from more than one constellation, we can drive pricing down for the customer in doing that.”

Verizon CEO Dan Schulman at that same conference plied his growing self-education around “the physics of satellite” to downplay competitive concerns.

“The more I dive into the physics of satellite, and I'm deep into the physics of satellite because I want to understand it inside and out, the more convinced I am, whether it be broadband to the home or direct-to-device, that satellite is a complementary service, and even over the medium to long term, not a direct competitor,” Schulman said. “They just can't compete without a terrestrial network in urban and suburban areas, where, call it 95 to 98 percent of our revenues are; we're 100 times, in some cases 1,000 times, more efficient than they are.”

Despite the shade, Schulman did note that there was a place for satellite as a “partner,” but “I do not see it as a viable competitor in the medium and even longer term.”