Major U.S. telecommunications shares dropped sharply Friday after Elon Musk’s SpaceX announced an agreement to purchase nationwide radio frequencies, signaling an ambitious push to transform Starlink into a direct mobile carrier.
The announcement prompted a widespread sell-off across the sector. AT&T plunged nearly 10 percent—reported as a 9.8 percent drop by NBC News and 9.81 percent by CNBC—marking its steepest single-day loss since 2000, according to CNBC. Verizon slid more than 8.7 percent in its deepest one-day decline since 2002. T-Mobile fell more than 13 percent, its sharpest downturn since 2011 according to NBC News, or since 2013 according to CNBC. More than $50 billion in cumulative market capitalization vanished before midday Friday, NBC News reported, while shares of SpaceX rose roughly 1 percent. Shares of cable providers Comcast and Charter Communications, which offer mobile plans using Verizon’s network, also declined.
The Starlink Mobile Expansion
SpaceX said late Thursday that it agreed to purchase a nationwide spectrum portfolio from investment firm Grain Management. According to CNBC, the transaction covers up to 14 megahertz of paired spectrum within the 800-megahertz band. Low-band radio frequencies can travel through walls and roofing, addressing a key physical hurdle for satellite transmissions that otherwise lose strength inside buildings, CBS News reported.
Musk wrote on social media that acquiring the airwaves was the final essential piece necessary to achieve complete cellular coverage across the country. SpaceX also confirmed that the Federal Communications Commission authorized an application to deploy 15,000 satellites configured to connect directly to standard consumer smartphones.
The spectrum acquisition remains contingent on formal FCC approval. FCC Chairman Brendan Carr voiced enthusiasm for expanding competition in the wireless arena during an appearance Friday on CNBC, remarking that heightened rivalry represents good news for American consumers.
Industry Skepticism and Infrastructure Hurdles
Despite the dramatic reaction on Wall Street, incumbent carriers and telecommunications analysts cast doubt on whether SpaceX can quickly disrupt established providers.
Verizon pushed back against the announcement in a statement to NBC News, arguing that acquiring frequencies alone does not create a functional network or offer nationwide coverage. Without physical towers, the company said, purchased frequencies remain “just empty airwaves.” John Saw, the chief technology officer at T-Mobile, wrote on LinkedIn that constructing a nationwide, high-grade mobile network requires years of engineering work that cannot be completed overnight.
Financial analysts echoed those operational challenges. JPMorgan Chase analysts noted that unless SpaceX negotiates access through existing operators, it will have to assemble an extensive terrestrial system using traditional macro towers to deliver reliable service. The firm concluded that the enormous time, physical equipment and capital required to build out ground infrastructure will limit immediate risks to incumbent carriers. Analysts at UBS also observed that low-band signals would still struggle to penetrate deep interior spaces without ground infrastructure, meaning SpaceX’s wireless scaling will take considerable time.
What Comes Next
The proposed airwave acquisition between SpaceX and Grain Management must still secure formal regulatory approval from the FCC before Starlink Mobile can proceed with deployment. It remains unknown when the company will begin launching the newly approved constellation of direct-to-cell satellites, and SpaceX has not disclosed whether it will seek terrestrial partnerships with existing carriers or attempt to construct its own ground-tower network from scratch.
