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SpaceX in Talks to Access 80,000 Cell Sites for Standalone US Wireless Carrier
Bloomberg reports SpaceX is negotiating access to at least 80,000 cell sites to build a fourth major US wireless carrier from scratch; AT&T plunged nearly 8% on Friday.
Why it matters
If SpaceX actually becomes a wireless carrier, the US telecom oligopoly of the big three could be disrupted. The company already has 22 million direct-to-cell satellite users; adding ground-based towers would put both the sky and ground networks in its own hands, forcing AT&T, Verizon and T-Mobile to recalculate.
Full report
SpaceX is in talks with US tower companies including Crown Castle to access at least 80,000 cellular sites, with the goal of building the fourth-largest US wireless carrier from scratch, Bloomberg reported exclusively on Thursday evening (Oct 22). Reuters and Dow Jones subsequently confirmed the report.
The news triggered sharp market moves on Friday (Oct 23): AT&T shares closed down 7.96% at $20.93; Verizon and T-Mobile also weakened; tower owner Crown Castle surged 11.6%.
This is the latest in a series of SpaceX telecom moves: the company recently acquired a nationwide low-band spectrum license and disclosed on its third-quarter earnings call that direct-to-cell satellite users had surpassed 22 million.
Analysts say it could still take years to go from talks to head-to-head competition with the big three, but SpaceX's infrastructure build-up is already weighing on telecom stock sentiment for the long term.
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