// ARS TECHNICA — MOBILE & WEB
Starlink spectrum deal boosts Musk plan to beat AT&T, T-Mobile, and Verizon
Nationwide 800 MHz spectrum to help Starlink provide mobile coverage indoors.
SpaceX has a deal to purchase nationwide low-band spectrum licenses for a planned terrestrial mobile network that would complement the space-based Starlink cellular service.
SpaceX will buy up to 14 megahertz of spectrum in the 800 MHz band from investment firm Grain Management, which bought the spectrum rights from T-Mobile earlier this year. T-Mobile had obtained the spectrum when it bought Sprint in 2020 and was required to sell the licenses under a merger condition imposed by the US government.
“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 yesterday. SpaceX this week also received US approval to launch 15,000 satellites for an upgraded version of its mobile service that it says will be far more powerful than the current offering.
The 800 MHz spectrum licenses cover “approximately 100 percent of the US population,” the Federal Communications Commission said in a July 2026 order approving Grain’s purchase of the T-Mobile licenses. While the licenses are nationwide, it’s not a huge amount of spectrum. It ranges from 4.85 megahertz to 14 megahertz depending on the county. The FCC said the 800 MHz spectrum can be used for terrestrial service, satellite-to-mobile service, or both.
SpaceX’s low-band purchase is in addition to 65 MHz of nationwide mid-band spectrum licenses it is buying from EchoStar. The FCC approved that $17 billion purchase in May 2026.
“While Starlink Mobile’s global 2 GHz mid-band spectrum will provide high-bandwidth capacity in the United States, this new low-band spectrum will provide a coverage layer that ensures Starlink Mobile’s signal penetrates through obstacles, such as walls, and can provide service to customers’ devices even when they are in buildings. Critically, most existing mobile devices already support this underused band,” SpaceX said.
SpaceX’s spectrum deal is likely to be approved by the FCC, but it could face opposition from small carriers. The Rural Wireless Association opposed EchoStar’s spectrum sales to AT&T and SpaceX, saying the deals “continue the troubling pattern of spectrum aggregation that disadvantages rural wireless providers.” Across all carriers in the US, there is about 1.1 GHz of licensed spectrum allocated to mobile operators, with the big three holding dominant spectrum portfolios.
SpaceX has been claiming for months that Starlink Mobile will eventually offer better service than AT&T, T-Mobile, and Verizon. SpaceX previously focused on partnering with carriers and providing them with satellite coverage for dead spots in their terrestrial networks. Stock prices for AT&T, T-Mobile, Verizon, and satellite company AST SpaceMobile fell sharply today in response to SpaceX’s spectrum deal.
SpaceX’s partner for mobile service in the US is T-Mobile, and the space company leased 10 MHz of nationwide mid-band spectrum from T-Mobile as part of that deal. With this week’s Grain deal, SpaceX is buying former T-Mobile spectrum in order to compete against the giant wireless carrier.