Elon Musk’s SpaceX announced Thursday it is acquiring low-frequency cellular spectrum meant to help Starlink’s signal reach indoors, not just outdoors, a move towards offering wireless service to American consumers.
Business Insider reports that T-Mobile stock dropped more than 11 percent in after-hours trading following the announcement. Verizon and AT&T each fell about 6.6 percent. Elon Musk reacted on X, calling it a “very big deal.”
SpaceX framed the acquisition as closing a gap in its push to become a full-fledged wireless competitor. “This prime low-band spectrum addresses one of the key remaining technical gaps that will pave the way for Starlink Mobile to become a major mobile carrier in the US,” the company said in a statement.
The purchase came days after the FCC granted SpaceX’s request to deploy and operate 15,000 Starlink satellites for direct-to-device connectivity. The FCC also waived a rule that would have required SpaceX to lease spectrum through an arrangement with terrestrial wireless carriers, so the company can now use spectrum it controls directly.
Together, the satellite approval and the spectrum deal suggest Starlink is positioning itself to compete directly with Verizon, AT&T and T-Mobile for cellular customers.
The industry has seen this threat coming for a while. Verizon CEO Dan Schulman addressed it last month at a Goldman Sachs conference, downplaying the impact so far from satellite rivals. “We’ve seen no zero discernible impact on our broadband growth from any LEO, low earth orbit satellite provider, including Starlink,” Schulman said. He stopped short of dismissing the longer-term risk, calling satellite providers a “viable competitor in the medium and even longer term.”
Stock selloff and regulatory wins aside, SpaceX still has a lot of physical infrastructure to build before it can operate like a traditional carrier in cities. Reliable urban cellular service needs ground-based equipment, cell sites and fiber connections among them, that satellites alone can’t provide.
Read more at Business Insider here.
Lucas Nolan is a reporter for Breitbart News covering issues of AI, free speech, and online censorship.