> bandwidth matters a lot.

Sure, how much data you can exchange per satellite is roughly proportional to the bandwidth.

Increasing bandwidth or increasing satellites increases data rate.

> it's why SpaceX pays so much on legal fees for fcc filings

Note that a whole lot of the paper that goes to the FCC relates to the FCC's statutory authority over space debris and constellation licensing.

they have spent an immense amount of money and time on fcc filings for spectrum. this is a mixture of asking for spectrum, proving they're not interfering, and trying to beat kuiper and others to market.

> they have spent an immense amount of money and time on fcc filings for spectrum.

Well, sure. It has a multiplicative effect with number of satellites on throughput. Not to mention the proxy warfare they've endured from other constellation vendors through the FCC.

The big point which I responded to was there was a claim that adding more satellites doesn't add throughput ("Do cheap launches help")-- that one could be purely spectrum limited and not benefit from additional satellites. Directional antennas make this not true for any reasonable number of satellites.