Starlink Mobile Network Coming

Could Elon Musk's space company be about to conquer the ground beneath our feet? According to a report by the Financial Times, SpaceX is planning to launch a Starlink-branded mobile network to challenge major US telecom carriers.

The company aims to pitch individual consumers with mobile contracts, taking the fight directly to industry giants like Verizon, AT&T, and T-Mobile. This would not be a satellite-only service, as those networks lack the capacity to support millions of active phones.

Instead, SpaceX reportedly wants to construct its own state-of-the-art terrestrial mobile infrastructure to handle the load. The company has already made a massive financial move by paying $17 billion to EchoStar for a portfolio of wireless spectrum licenses.

However, industry experts are highly skeptical of a complete build-out from scratch, David Barden, an analyst at New Street Research, warned that building a brand-new physical network in a saturated U.S. market would be incredibly hard.

Because of this, Barden suggests the terrestrial network plans might actually be a clever negotiating tactic. SpaceX could be using its massive $17 billion spectrum purchase as leverage to force existing carriers into a partnership.

So far, the Big Three U.S. carriers have flatly refused to sign virtual network operator agreements with SpaceX.

Whether it builds its own towers or forces a major carrier to the table, SpaceX is positioning Starlink to redefine the consumer mobile industry.