Elon Musk’s SpaceX said it acquired low-band spectrum that will enable it to use its Starlink satellites to become a “major mobile carrier” in the US, sending shares in incumbent cell providers falling as much as 8 percent.
In a post on X on Thursday, Musk said the low-band spectrum is “the last critical piece of the spectrum puzzle needed for SpaceX to provide complete phone coverage in America”.
Shares of major mobile phone service providers dropped in post-market trading.
AT&T Inc. fell 7,3 percent and T-Mobile US Inc. and Verizon Communications Inc. sank 6,6 percent as of Thursday 5pm in New York.
SpaceX rose 1,5 percent in post-market trading. Bloomberg News reported in August that SpaceX was among the companies interested in the spectrum.
Musk, SpaceX’s chief executive officer, appeared to reject the idea, responding “not true” on his X social media platform to a user’s post referencing the report.
SpaceX said once it receives approval from the Federal Communications Commission, it will combine its satellite-to-cell services with a terrestrial network that can connect devices everywhere.
The new spectrum, which SpaceX acquired from investment firm Grain Management LLC, allows the company to provide cell service that can penetrate walls and provide service to devices indoors.
It is supported by most mobile devices today, SpaceX said in a post on its website.
The price of the agreement was not publicly disclosed by SpaceX or Grain Management.
The 800 MHz-band licenses became available after Grain completed a spectrum swap in August with T-Mobile. — Bloomberg
The terms of that transaction, approved by the Federal Communications Commission, called for Grain to seek bids to develop the spectrum, which has been underutilised, according to the commission’s order.
The commission had said it wanted the bidding done by November 5.
The licenses cover nearly the entire US population, and they’re seen as valuable for helping satellite providers establish a ground-based link for voice services, known as a network pilot.
Grain has been confident that satellite and terrestrial services can co-exist in the 800 MHz band even though it’s previously only been used for ground-based mobile services, a person familiar with the company’s thinking told Bloomberg in August. – Bloomberg
