AT&T's CEO throws shade at Musk's Starlink mobile ambitions
AT&T CEO John Stankey downplayed the competitive threat of Elon Musk's Starlink mobile satellite ambitions during an earnings call. While acknowledging satellite internet's utility in rural areas, Stankey argued that fiber-connected networks offer superior performance for dense urban and suburban populations.
Why it matters
The intersection of traditional telecommunications carriers and satellite-based internet represents a major strategic shift in mobile and rural connectivity markets.
"I wouldn't over-rotate on what I would call one carrier of low band spectrum," John Stankey said Wednesday, referring to Elon Musk's Starlink. Win McNamee/Getty Images (Musk); Lluis Gene/AFP via Getty Images (Stankey) AT&T CEO is brushing off concerns that satellite-based internet could threaten his business. "I think LEO constellations are fantastic for delivering bandwidth to rural areas," he said. When it comes to where lots of people live, he said fiber-connected performance can't be beat. Elon Musk wants SpaceX to become a major US mobile carrier. AT&T CEO John Stankey says: not so fast. AT&T has an advantage from years of investment in dense urban and suburban areas, he said on AT&T's third-quarter earnings call, a day after Musk and SpaceX chief operating officer Gwynne Shotwell reported more than 22 million monthly Starlink Mobile users .
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