SpaceX is coming for T-Mobile, AT&T and Verizon
SpaceX executives announced plans to build a terrestrial mobile network to compete directly with major US carriers like T-Mobile, AT&T, and Verizon. The company intends to leverage newly acquired spectrum and Starlink satellite infrastructure to provide mobile service.
Why it matters
If successful, SpaceX could disrupt the established telecommunications oligopoly in the US by integrating satellite and ground-based mobile infrastructure.
SpaceX is preparing to build a terrestrial mobile network to “acquire quite a few” of the customers now subscribed to T-Mobile, AT&T, and Verizon. The message to compete head-to-head with the US carriers was delivered by SpaceX president Gwynne Shotwell and CEO Elon Musk during the Q&A section of the company’s first earnings call.
“The spectrum that we purchased from EchoStar does have terrestrial components, so we definitely intend to build out the terrestrial component,” said Shotwell. “You will have not only the capacity from the satellites themselves, but you will have a buildout of the terrestrial, basically the hardware and systems necessary to make a true mobile service exactly what you want it to be.”
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