Analysts Float $180 Billion SpaceX-T-Mobile Deal as Starlink’s 12 Million Users Weaken the Case
Updated
Updated · The Motley Fool · Jul 5
Analysts Float $180 Billion SpaceX-T-Mobile Deal as Starlink’s 12 Million Users Weaken the Case
3 articles · Updated · The Motley Fool · Jul 5
Summary
$180 billion is the rough price tag analysts attached to a SpaceX acquisition of T-Mobile, arguing Starlink’s satellite network and T-Mobile’s terrestrial broadband could form a global direct-to-device internet platform.
12 million paying direct-to-device customers already give Starlink strong organic growth after 4.6 million additions last year, undercutting the need to buy a mobile carrier outright.
10,000-plus satellites still do not solve Starlink’s core limits: satellite links use lower-band spectrum, slow as usage rises, and cover a remote market that is small because most U.S. users already have terrestrial service.
6% of U.S. FCC-licensed spectrum leaves Starlink with limited leverage, while owning T-Mobile could alienate AT&T and Verizon—both tied to AST SpaceMobile—and invite a costly antitrust fight over size and dominance.