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Posted On: October 10th 2026, 01:07 am
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“Can you hear me now?”
For the first time in a long time, there could be a new major player in the wireless carrier market. On Thursday, Elon Musk’s SpaceX struck an $8 billion deal to purchase a nationwide spectrum portfolio, the Wall Street Journal reported.
For those who don’t speak telecom, a spectrum portfolio is a collection of cellular licenses for specific frequencies over certain geographic areas — i.e., the airwaves a future SpaceX service would run on.
The licenses SpaceX has agreed to buy, from tech and communications investment firm Grain Management, are in the 800-megahertz band. The low-band portfolio is intended to improve SpaceX’s indoor mobile coverage.
Though the deal still needs FCC approval, SpaceX, in its own announcement, said that the move addresses “one of the key remaining technical gaps” for Starlink Mobile, the wireless network it plans to launch in late 2027.
With SpaceX stating its intentions so plainly, the news sent telecom giants into a historic rout. Verizon closed down 8.8% for its worst day since 2002, T-Mobile fell 13.3% for its worst day since 2013, and AT&T fell 9.8% for its worst day since 2000. SpaceX shares, meanwhile, rose a modest 1.3%.
📸 : Getty
For the first time in a long time, there could be a new major player in the wireless carrier market. On Thursday, Elon Musk’s SpaceX struck an $8 billion deal to purchase a nationwide spectrum portfolio, the Wall Street Journal reported.
For those who don’t speak telecom, a spectrum portfolio is a collection of cellular licenses for specific frequencies over certain geographic areas — i.e., the airwaves a future SpaceX service would run on.
The licenses SpaceX has agreed to buy, from tech and communications investment firm Grain Management, are in the 800-megahertz band. The low-band portfolio is intended to improve SpaceX’s indoor mobile coverage.
Though the deal still needs FCC approval, SpaceX, in its own announcement, said that the move addresses “one of the key remaining technical gaps” for Starlink Mobile, the wireless network it plans to launch in late 2027.
With SpaceX stating its intentions so plainly, the news sent telecom giants into a historic rout. Verizon closed down 8.8% for its worst day since 2002, T-Mobile fell 13.3% for its worst day since 2013, and AT&T fell 9.8% for its worst day since 2000. SpaceX shares, meanwhile, rose a modest 1.3%.
📸 : Getty
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