SpaceX moves to become a US carrier with new spectrum, 15,000 satellites and talks for 80,000 cell sites
What's the deal? SpaceXDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom → this week announced two moves that advance its goal of becoming a major US carrier to rival AT&T, Verizon, and T-Mobile. It is buying a low-band spectrum license portfolio in the 800MHz band and won Federal Communications Commission approval to launch its Starlink Mobile Gen2 constellation.
Why now? SpaceX says the 800MHz purchase closes one of the "remaining technical gaps" blocking it from competing with established carriers. Most smartphones already support the band it is acquiring.
What's the endgame? The Federal Communications Commission cleared SpaceX to launch 15,000 satellites optimised for 2GHz spectrum globally, which the company says will "deliver more than 100 times the bandwidth" of the current generation. The regulator also granted a waiver letting SpaceX offer wireless service via satellite without a spectrum leasing deal with a terrestrial carrier.
How it works: After final approval, SpaceX plans to pair its satellites with an "advanced terrestrial deployment." The 2GHz mid-band spectrum will supply high-bandwidth capacity, while the low-band 800MHz signal can penetrate obstacles like walls.
SpaceX says it would be the first operator to combine satellite and terrestrial spectrum into a single network offering service "indoors, outdoors, in cellular dead zones, and everywhere in between."
What could go wrong? The plan hinges on final Federal Communications Commission approval for the spectrum purchase. SpaceX also already powers T-Mobile's satellite feature, but T-Mobile recently stripped SpaceX branding from its website after finalising a joint satellite venture with AT&T and Verizon.
The signal: The announcement rattled incumbents, sending shares of AT&T, Verizon, and T-Mobile down — Verizon posted its worst one-day fall since 2002. SpaceX is positioning Starlink Mobile to turn satellite coverage from a backup feature into a direct challenge to the traditional carrier model.
Update, 22 October 2026: towers next. SpaceX aims to secure access to at least 80,000 US cell sites and is in talks with at least one major tower company, Crown CastleDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →, Bloomberg reported, citing people familiar with the matter. That would equal about half of the 158,500 purpose-built cell towers operating in the US last year, according to the Wireless Infrastructure Association, as cited by Reuters. Crown Castle owns about 40,000 US towers, American Tower about 42,000 and Vertical Bridge about 18,000. Asked on an earnings call whether it was discussing leases with SpaceX or Amazon, Crown Castle CEO Chris Hillabrant said: "You can assume that we're talking to all parties." On SpaceX's own earnings call that week, Elon Musk said the company "will be building out our terrestrial networks" so that Starlink Mobile can "become a major mobile carrier in the US". Shares of AT&T, Verizon and T-Mobile fell 4.2% to 5% in extended trading after the report.
The cost question: TD Cowen estimates a nationwide terrestrial network would cost more than $80 billion, and BNP Paribas analyst Sam McHugh puts it at $100 billion or more, excluding extra spectrum. McHugh said 80,000 macro sites would give coverage on par with the big three carriers, while New Street Research noted SpaceX still says it would prefer a wholesale (MVNO) deal with an existing carrier, which could shrink a full tower build-out; both raised the possibility that the tower talks are partly negotiating leverage.
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Image credit: NASA Goddard Photo and Video
