Elon Musk's SpaceX just made a huge play to challenge the phone industry and stocks like AT&T, T-Mobile and Verizon are getting crushed - Yahoo Finance
SpaceX has announced the acquisition of a nationwide low-band spectrum, signaling a major move to compete with traditional wireless carriers. Following the news, shares of AT&T, T-Mobile, and Verizon experienced significant declines.
Why it matters
This move threatens the market dominance of legacy telecommunications giants and could fundamentally change the mobile service landscape.
Elon Musk's SpaceX just made a huge play to challenge the phone industry, and AT&T, T-Mobile, and Verizon stocks are getting crushed Brian Sozzi · Executive Editor Sat, October 10, 2026 at 12:32 AM GMT+8 2 min read SPCX +1.25% T -9.81% TMUS -13.27% VZ -8.75% Elon Musk's SpaceX ( SPCX ) just sent a big message to the wireless industry: We want our piece of the subscriber pie.
Late Thursday, SpaceX said it will acquire a nationwide low-band spectrum portfolio. It positions Musk's satellite business Starlink to challenge legacy wireless giants across the US.
Shares of AT&T ( T ), T-Mobile ( TMUS ), and Verizon ( VZ ) tumbled on the news on Friday.
Concerns had already escalated across Wall Street that Starlink could disrupt legacy wireless operators like AT&T, Verizon, and T-Mobile by transitioning from a rural broadband service into a direct mobile competitor.
Also covering this story
5 other newsrooms covered this event. We read each version separately.
SpaceX Buys Wireless Spectrum For Starlink; Verizon, AT&T, T-Mobile Tumble
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SpaceX is buying nationwide low-band spectrum to become a major U.S. mobile carrier
SpaceX announces plan to become a ‘major mobile carrier’
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