SpaceX has made no secret of its plans to make Starlink Mobile a full-fledged US carrier, and last month it bought more spectrum to do so. What it still lacks is a terrestrial network, and last week T-Mobile’s CEO ruled out running Starlink Mobile on his company’s network. Now, according to a new report, Elon Musk may have found a way around this problem, and it’s called Boost Mobile.
SpaceX has reportedly held talks with Boost parent company EchoStar in recent months, and Musk met personally with EchoStar president Charlie Ergen in October. The potential deal could see SpaceX buy Boost Mobile outright or just gain access to its network, which Boost leases from AT&T and T-Mobile. Either way, it would allow SpaceX to provide service via traditional cell towers indoors and in cities where its satellite signal is currently not strong enough.
Musk reportedly asked the heads of all three major US carriers — Verizon, AT&T, and T-Mobile — to give SpaceX access to their networks, and all three said no, it wasn’t just the Magenta carrier. That could still come back to bite Musk, as a carrier’s lease agreement typically cannot be transferred to a new owner without the host carrier’s permission. So AT&T and T-Mobile may have to opt out before a SpaceX service through Boost can actually launch — and the chances of that happening don’t seem great.
In August, SpaceX announced its plans to enter the US telecommunications market and challenge AT&T, T-Mobile, and Verizon, and on a recent earnings call, SpaceX CFO Bret Johnsen said the goal is to “become a major mobile carrier … in the United States”. The company also reportedly sees an embedded mobile network as a way to turn its more than 12,000 satellites into a significant new source of revenue.
The Verizon CEO estimated it would take SpaceX four to six years to build out the infrastructure it needs, while Musk said it would take about half that. Musk isn’t exactly known for beating his own timelines, though. Verizon and EchoStar declined to comment on the report, while SpaceX, AT&T and T-Mobile did not respond.
Source