SpaceX Plans Terrestrial Cell Network to Rival Verizon
SpaceX President COO Gwynne Shotwell says it plans to add land-based infrastructure, including cell towers and small cell nodes, on top of its satellite internet to offer mobile service. Verizon, AT&T, and T-Mobile shares each fell over 4% after her comments. Bloomberg says nationwide build-out would require new Starlink launches, spectrum rights, and access to thousands of sites, which carriers have refused. SpaceX has also discussed routing some phone traffic via Charter and bought EchoStar spectrum licenses to support direct-to-cell service.