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SpaceX agreed to buy nationwide 800 MHz airwaves from Grain Management for its new Starlink Mobile service. AT&T, Verizon and T-Mobile shares fell on the threat. Cell tower owners such as American Tower, Crown Castle and SBA Communications could gain if SpaceX builds ground sites.
Source: MarketWatch ↗
SpaceX agreed to buy Grain Management's nationwide 800 MHz airwaves, up to 14 MHz paired, for its new Starlink Mobile service. The Wall Street Journal reported SpaceX will pay about $8 billion in cash. The airwaves add a low-band layer to its 2 GHz holdings. AT&T, Verizon and T-Mobile shares fell more than 5% after hours, because a new national rival could take subscribers and push prices down. T-Mobile had sold these same airwaves to Grain in August 2026. The link runs further, to the companies that own cell towers. Bernstein said the deal keeps alive the chance that SpaceX builds its own ground network; buying spectrum is not a commitment to build towers, but it makes that option more credible and cheaper. Ground networks need antennas on towers, and towers earn rent from each tenant. American Tower (AMT), Crown Castle (CCI) and SBA Communications (SBAC) rose after hours. How much rent SpaceX might pay is not yet known. One new tenant would be small next to these companies' current revenue: about $10.9B over the last four quarters at American Tower, $4.2B at Crown Castle and $2.9B at SBA.
After the announcement, shares of AT&T, Verizon and T-Mobile fell more than 5% in after-hours trading, and fell further before the market opened on Friday. US cell tower stocks rose 3% to 4.5% after hours, and gained further before Friday's open. Bernstein said the deal keeps alive the possibility that SpaceX builds its own ground network.
SpaceX could use the 800 MHz airwaves only through its satellites, or through deals that put little new equipment on towers. In that case the tower owners gain no new tenant. SpaceX has already hinted at a tower-light design. On its August 4 earnings call, President Gwynne Shotwell said it could put small base stations (femtocells) on the mounts that hold Starlink dishes and deploy them as needed, instead of copying the carriers' tower sites. And on October 6 the FCC approved its 15,000-satellite Gen2 Starlink Mobile constellation. Signs to watch over the coming weeks: whether SpaceX says how Starlink Mobile will use the airwaves, whether the FCC approval needed to close the deal stalls, and whether the tower companies mention a new wireless tenant in their next quarterly reports. Even if SpaceX builds, it needs FCC approval first and a ground build would take years, so any new rent is unlikely to show up soon.
AT&T, Verizon and T-Mobile are the tower owners' main tenants. If Starlink Mobile takes their subscribers and pushes their prices down, they may spend less on tower leases and new equipment. Those cuts could outweigh rent from one new tenant that may never build many ground sites.
SpaceX agrees to buy nationwide 800 MHz airwaves for Starlink Mobile. A new national rival for subscribers leads AT&T, Verizon and T-Mobile shares to fall more than 5% after hours.
SpaceX describes Starlink Mobile as a combined satellite and ground network, and the deal keeps open the chance that SpaceX builds a ground network, as Bernstein noted.
A ground network needs antennas on towers, so American Tower, Crown Castle and SBA Communications could gain a new rent-paying tenant. The size of that rent is not yet known.
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