SpaceX Moves to Challenge AT&T, T-Mobile and Verizon With Starlink Mobile

SpaceX is taking a major step toward competing directly with AT&T, T-Mobile and Verizon in the US wireless market. The company has asked the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to approve its purchase of low-band spectrum from T-Mobile, expanding Starlink Mobile beyond its current strategy of partnering with mobile carriers to cover dead zones.

Shares of AT&T, T-Mobile, Verizon and satellite company AST SpaceMobile fell following news of SpaceX’s spectrum deal.

SpaceX plans direct competition with major wireless carriers

T-Mobile is SpaceX’s current mobile-services partner in the United States. As part of that partnership, SpaceX leased 10 MHz of T-Mobile’s national mid-band spectrum. Under this week’s agreement, SpaceX would purchase the former T-Mobile spectrum and use it to compete with the country’s largest wireless carriers.

SpaceX CEO Elon Musk said in August that Starlink would deploy large numbers of small base stations to replace “large cell towers that are expensive and difficult to deploy.” He also said Starlink broadband antennas installed on the roofs of homes and businesses could help provide connectivity to mobile phones.

In a notification submitted to the FCC, SpaceX asked the agency to approve the low-band spectrum purchase. The company said the deployment would rely on radios connected to sectorized antennas installed on towers, rooftops and other structures.

According to the FCC filing, 800 MHz spectrum offers long-range coverage, strong performance across terrain and clutter, and excellent building penetration. SpaceX said the low-band spectrum could provide an efficient coverage layer for markets of different sizes and densities, including areas that cannot be served effectively by higher-frequency networks.

Starlink Mobile is preparing for next-generation satellites

SpaceX has launched 650 Direct-to-Device satellites for its current mobile service and plans to launch as many as 15,000 more powerful next-generation satellites. The FCC approved SpaceX’s application for 15,000 satellites on Tuesday.

“The V2 Starlink Mobile satellite provides more than 100 times the bandwidth of the current generation, delivering high-speed service directly to unmodified devices anywhere in the world,” SpaceX said.

SpaceX also said the FCC has authorized the full range of backhaul spectrum, including Ka-, V-, E- and W-band frequencies, for Starlink’s V3 broadband satellites. The satellites will be able to operate through the existing Starlink gateway network.

Starlink aims to provide coverage in cell phone dead zones

SpaceX said that after deploying its spectrum and launching its next-generation satellites, Starlink Mobile will be able to provide US residents with “reliable service indoors, outdoors, in cell phone dead zones, and everywhere in between.”

In a previous filing with the Canadian government, SpaceX said it had “begun launching next-generation Starlink direct-to-device satellites that will enter service by the end of 2027.” The company also said it plans to launch “thousands of additional satellites” by the end of 2028.