SpaceX has agreed to buy a block of mobile airwaves that most phones in America can already use, and investors treated it as a direct threat to the three national carriers. The company said on Thursday that it would acquire Grain Management's nationwide portfolio of up to 14 megahertz of paired spectrum in the 800 MHz band, CNBC reported. The deal needs approval from the Federal Communications Commission.
"This prime low-band spectrum addresses one of the key remaining technical gaps that will pave the way for Starlink Mobile to become a major mobile carrier in the US," SpaceX said in a statement. Elon Musk, its chief executive, called it a very big deal in a post on X.
The companies did not disclose terms. The Wall Street Journal, citing people familiar with the deal, reported that it is worth about $8 billion, according to Reuters. Grain, a private equity firm that invests in digital infrastructure, bought the airwaves from T-Mobile earlier this year, Reuters reported.
Why low-band matters
Starlink Mobile, SpaceX's service that connects satellites directly to ordinary phones, already has mid-band spectrum at 2 GHz, which carries more data. What it has lacked is low-band spectrum. Low frequencies travel farther and pass through walls and tree cover far better, which is why they matter for coverage indoors. Most existing handsets already support the 800 MHz band, according to Reuters, so customers would not need special phones.
SpaceX plans to combine the new spectrum with its next generation of satellites and to put ground-based radios and antennas on towers and rooftops, Reuters reported in an explainer on Friday.
That second part matters. "This adds fuel to the fire in the battle between SpaceX and the mobile operators," Tim Farrar of TMF Associates told CNBC. "But it's still a very limited amount of spectrum and to get reliable building penetration in urban areas SpaceX would have to deploy towers on the ground."
The market's verdict
T-Mobile US, Verizon and AT&T each fell around 6 per cent in extended trading on Thursday, and between 5.5 and 7.4 per cent in premarket trading on Friday, according to Reuters. The losses held once regular trading began. By mid-morning in New York, T-Mobile was down almost 10 per cent from Thursday's close, and Verizon and AT&T about 7 per cent, according to Yahoo Finance market data. The selling crossed the Atlantic. The STOXX Europe 600 telecommunications index fell more than 2 per cent to its lowest since 30 January. Deutsche Telekom fell 6.5 per cent, Vodafone 4.1 per cent, Telefonica 3.9 per cent and Orange 2.3 per cent.
The tower owners went the other way. American Tower, Crown Castle and SBA Communications rose between 6.7 and 8.3 per cent, Reuters reported, as investors bet that SpaceX would need more ground infrastructure. Morgan Stanley said even a network built mainly around satellites could need towers, rooftops and small cells, and that competing in cities would need much more.
"We believe the Grain transaction is a clear sign that SpaceX is going to be a more aggressive acquirer of spectrum," Morgan Stanley's analysts wrote. They expect any threat to the established carriers to arrive gradually, starting in rural markets.
SpaceX's own shares fell 4 per cent in regular trading on Thursday and rose about 2.5 per cent after hours, CNBC reported. The company went public in June in a record listing and is valued at more than $2 trillion. Starlink is its only profitable business so far, according to CNBC.
A week of moves
The deal is the latest step in a contest that has sharpened in recent days. T-Mobile, AT&T and Verizon have formed a joint venture for satellite and direct-to-device services, and Starlink is not part of it, CNBC noted.
On Tuesday the FCC authorised SpaceX to deploy 15,000 satellites for direct-to-device service in very low Earth orbit, using spectrum SpaceX is acquiring from EchoStar, Via Satellite reported. The authority over the EchoStar spectrum is conditioned on the second step of that transaction, the transfer of licences held in a trust, which is expected on or about 30 November 2027. Gwynne Shotwell, SpaceX's president, has told investors the company plans to start flying the new satellites next year and to provide service by the end of next year.
The FCC has also said it will vote on a proposal to auction 25 megahertz of spectrum for direct-to-device services, and on 29 October on seeking comment about making a further 482 MHz available for coverage from space, according to CNBC.
The three incumbents are not short of low-band airwaves. AT&T holds 700 MHz and 850 MHz spectrum and 600 MHz licences it bought from EchoStar in July. Verizon holds 700 MHz and 850 MHz, and T-Mobile 600 MHz and 700 MHz, according to Reuters. What changed on Thursday is that SpaceX now has some too.
The rivalry with established companies is not limited to phone carriers. Last week Musk criticised Delta Air Lines' chief executive, Ed Bastian, on X, after a travel blog reported that Bastian had told staff Delta did not want to be with Musk, CNBC reported on Friday in its coverage of Delta's quarterly results. Delta recently said it would add Amazon Leo satellite internet to its planes, while Starlink supplies United, American, Southwest and Alaska. Bastian told CNBC there was no tit-for-tat as far as he was concerned.
The agreement, its scope, the need for FCC approval, the quotation from SpaceX's statement, Elon Musk's description of the deal, the carriers' satellite joint venture, the FCC's planned votes, the remarks of Tim Farrar and the description of SpaceX's listing and businesses are as reported by CNBC on 8 October 2026. Musk's criticism of Ed Bastian, the airline Wi-Fi partnerships and Bastian's response are as reported by CNBC on 9 October 2026. That Grain bought the spectrum from T-Mobile, that most handsets already support the band, and the carriers' after-hours share moves are as reported by Reuters on 8 October 2026. The premarket share moves in the United States and Europe, the moves in tower stocks, the Wall Street Journal's reported value and the quotations from Morgan Stanley are as reported by Reuters on 9 October 2026. The carriers' share prices in regular trading on Friday are from Yahoo Finance market data at about 10.25am New York time. The carriers' low-band holdings and SpaceX's plan for ground-based radios are from a Reuters explainer published on 9 October 2026. The FCC's 6 October authorisation, its conditions and the remarks of Gwynne Shotwell are as reported by Via Satellite on 7 October 2026. The analysis is our own.
