The Chokepoints

We reverse-engineer supply chains to find & explain the chokepoints nobody's watching. AI · semis · photonics · critical minerals. Found one? Tag me. NFA / DYOR

[The Chokepoints @TheChokepoints]

Everyone knows the AI trade is about chips.
Almost nobody understands the tiny company the entire AI optical buildout quietly runs through.

A chokepoint hiding two layers under Nvidia 🧵👇

$AXTI

[The Chokepoints @TheChokepoints]

@DilemmaTrades @Budgetdog_ Do better Vlad.

[The Chokepoints @TheChokepoints]

@InternetH0F @imagine what a high level scene of millions of citizens looks like to 10k police officers.

[The Chokepoints @TheChokepoints]

@DilemmaTrades @DrClownPhD 🤣

[The Chokepoints @TheChokepoints]

@spacanpanman @thekookreport @CKCapitalxx 👀 $ASTS

[The Chokepoints @TheChokepoints]

@DilemmaTrades @kevinxu @CKCapitalxx I sub for the $5month to have access to his picks. So far he has made good decisions. I’m not in it but observing for now.

[The Chokepoints @TheChokepoints]

@DilemmaTrades @kevinxu Yea - currently following @CKCapitalxx all in port challenge - 5k starting and he’s up quite nicely with 1 stock per trade.

[The Chokepoints @TheChokepoints]

@TheLongInvest $ASTS IS READY FOR LIFTOFF 🚀����🚀

[The Chokepoints @TheChokepoints]

@CKCapitalxx No-Brainer. $ASTS has a huge launch Wednesday too. $ASTX to have some real fun 😏

[The Chokepoints @TheChokepoints]

@darrenrovell @grok link to purchase?

[The Chokepoints @TheChokepoints]

While everybody is so excited for $SPCX - I’m buying more $ASTS $ASTX at a nice discount. Read this tweet 👇

[Leo Edge @LeoCapital_01]

To all the @elonmusk fans and @Starlink $TSLA fans - I respect what @SpaceX has built. But let me show you why Starlink Mobile isn't even playing the same game as $ASTS , and why ASTS is trading at a steal right now.
It comes down to spectrum. And once you understand spectrum, the entire D2D picture becomes obvious.
Think of radio spectrum like sound from a speaker. Bass notes are low frequency - they travel far, go through walls, you feel them in the next room.
Treble notes are high frequency - crisp and clear but step behind a wall and they disappear. This is physics. Can't be engineered around no matter how many satellites you launch.

Here's who owns what in D2D:

LOW-BAND - the bass. Goes through walls, buildings, cars.
→ 700 MHz: AT&T and FirstNet own it. Leased to ASTS. FCC authorized for 248 satellites. This reaches you inside your house, in a basement, in a parking garage.
→ 800/850 MHz: AT&T and Verizon own it. Leased to ASTS. FCC authorized. Same indoor penetration.
→ 902-928 MHz: Federal radiolocation band. ASTS filed to test radar here for the Space Force starting June 12. Defense revenue on a different frequency.
Nobody else has D2D authorization on low-band. Not SpaceX. Not Amazon. Not Qualcomm. It's all owned by carriers who spent tens of billions at auctions over decades to lock it up.

MID-BAND — the treble. Outdoor only. Does not penetrate buildings.
→ SpaceX: ~65 MHz owned (AWS-3, AWS-4, H-Block, 1695-2180 MHz range). Paid $17B+ for it through EchoStar. Real spectrum. But current phones don't support these bands. SpaceX's own VP said commercial launch mid-2027. And even then mid-band still doesn't go indoors.
→ SpaceX current D2D: T-Mobile PCS (~1900 MHz), leased. Powers Starlink Mobile today at 3-7 Mbps. Texting and basic data. Outdoors only. T-Mobile CEO said they're seeing "a lot less usage than originally thinking."
→ Amazon/Globalstar: ~25 MHz total. 8 MHz L-band + 16.5 MHz S-band. Asymmetric — caps two-way throughput. Narrowband, not broadband. D2D system not launching until 2028 at earliest. Amazon paid $11.6B for this.
→ Ligado: 45 MHz L-band. FCC approval pending for 7+ years. GPS lobby blocking it.

ASTS'S OWNED SPECTRUM - this is what nobody talks about: → ASTS acquired 40 MHz of Ligado's L-band spectrum for $550M upfront plus $80M per year on an 80-YEAR lease. That's not carrier-leased spectrum. That's ASTS-controlled spectrum with usage rights through 2106. This gives ASTS the ability to operate independently of carriers if needed - a backup path nobody is modeling.
→ ASTS also secured S-band spectrum priority rights for $64.5M.

SPECTRUM ASTS IS FIGHTING FOR:
→ 1675-1680 MHz: Last week ASTS's SVP of Regulatory Affairs Jennifer Manner met directly with FCC staff to argue this band should be auctioned for satellite D2D use. Qualcomm wants it reserved for "sidelink" - terrestrial device-to-device communication for things like vehicle-to-vehicle. If Qualcomm wins, the band gets locked for one ground-based technology. If ASTS wins, it opens more mid-band spectrum for satellite D2D expansion. NTIA already identified this band as a potential D2D candidate. ASTS is fighting to keep the door open and imo ASTS will win.

THE FULL ASTS SPECTRUM POSITION:
Commercial D2D: 700/800 MHz (carrier-leased, FCC authorized, indoor capable)
Owned spectrum: 40 MHz L-band (80-year rights) + S-band priority rights
Defense: 902-928 MHz (radar/PNT for Space Force, testing June 12)
Future expansion: 1675-1680 MHz (fighting Qualcomm at FCC)
Gateway: V-band for feeder links

Now here's why this is a moat and not just a list:
ASTS is the ONLY D2D company with indoor coverage. Low-band penetrates walls. Everything else doesn't. When SpaceX fans say "Starlink will figure it out" - figure out what exactly? They have zero low-band. The carriers who own it will never lease it to a company building a competing network. That's not a technology problem. It's a trust problem. And trust takes decades to build.

ASTS has both leased AND owned spectrum. The carrier-leased low-band gives them indoor D2D today. The Ligado L-band gives them 80 years of independent spectrum rights. Nobody else in D2D has this dual structure.
Carriers are equity investors in ASTS. AT&T, Verizon, Vodafone - they put their own money in. Then all 3 US carriers formed a JV around ASTS technology. They trust ASTS with their spectrum because ASTS makes their network more valuable, not replaceable.
ASTS is playing four spectrum games simultaneously. Carrier-leased D2D. Owned L-band. Defense radar. FCC lobbying for future expansion. Show me another company doing this.

What did everyone pay for spectrum?
SpaceX: $17B+ for 65 MHz mid-band (outdoor only, phones don't support it yet)
Amazon: $11.6B for ~25 MHz narrowband (asymmetric, 2028 at earliest)
ASTS: $550M + $80M/yr for 40 MHz L-band (80-year rights) PLUS free carrier-leased low-band that nobody else can get

SpaceX is valued at $1.75T. Amazon's space division has invested $21B+. ASTS market cap? $35B. With the only indoor D2D spectrum, 80 years of owned spectrum rights, defense radar capabilities, and every major US carrier as a partner.
Bass goes through walls. Treble doesn't. The carriers own all the bass. They gave it to ASTS.

$ASTS - 3 more BlueBird satellites heading to orbit on Falcon 9 this month. The spectrum is locked. The rockets are ready. 🛰️

@SawyerMerritt @TeslaBoomerMama

[The Chokepoints @TheChokepoints]

@aleabitoreddit Yep. Good call Serenity. For the visual learners 😃 $AXTI

[The Chokepoints @TheChokepoints]

Everyone knows the AI trade is about chips.
Almost nobody understands the tiny company the entire AI optical buildout quietly runs through.

A chokepoint hiding two layers under Nvidia 🧵👇

$AXTI

[The Chokepoints @TheChokepoints]

@TheETFTracker I actually may go all in right after launch 🤣 @DilemmaTrades let’s ride.

[The Chokepoints @TheChokepoints]

@DilemmaTrades @nunaambon lol perfect.

[The Chokepoints @TheChokepoints]

@Raindropsmedia1 @grok what’s the most effective way to get this dog to release his jaw?

[The Chokepoints @TheChokepoints]

@NateGeraci @Micro2Macr0 All in 😅😜

[The Chokepoints @TheChokepoints]

@UncleAlpha007 Grok says bullish for $AAOI

[The Chokepoints @TheChokepoints]

@BULLOFBRITAIN Interesting. Actually good news for 3 popular ones $AAOI $AXTI $CRDO