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Phones and PCs

SpaceX vs the carriers

Verizon had its worst day since 2002 after one SpaceX deal. SpaceX holds about a quarter of each carrier's airwaves.

Numbers as of 14 Oct 2026

AT&TSpaceXT-MobileVerizon
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The story in 7 cards

Why did phone stocks fall? A SpaceX satellite sends a thin green wave to a phone; three cell towers below send waves about three to four times wider. Verizon −8.8%, T-Mobile −13.3%, AT&T −9.8% on 9 Oct 2026. SpaceX holds about a quarter of the airwaves.T-Mobile, 1 of 3: Starlink's own partner fell the most, losing $24B in market value on 9 Oct. Worth $157B on 28 Oct; satellite partner: Starlink; it sold its 800 MHz airwaves for $2.9B in August 2026, and Grain agreed on 8 Oct to sell them to SpaceX.Verizon, 2 of 3: the smallest fall, yet its worst day since 2002, $16.6B in market value. Worth $179B on 28 Oct; satellite partner: AST SpaceMobile; bought $1B of airwaves in June 2026. It joined a satellite venture with AT&T and T-Mobile in May 2026.AT&T, 3 of 3: it lost $16.2B in market value on 9 Oct. Worth $139B on 28 Oct; satellite partner: AST SpaceMobile; it bought about $23B of EchoStar airwaves, and SpaceX bought EchoStar airwaves too. Its CEO called SpaceX's phone plan not viable.The buyer, SpaceX: no phone plan yet, but worth about 4 times the three carriers together. It gained $27B in market value on 9 Oct and was worth $2.0T on 28 Oct. It uses its own satellites, bought about $20B of EchoStar airwaves, and Starlink made $1.7B in operating profit from April to June 2026.The twist, 8 to 28 Oct 2026: none of the four stocks is back. AT&T −16%, T-Mobile −14%, SpaceX −10%, Verizon −5%. Another drop came on 23 Oct after a report about SpaceX and cell towers.Question: who gets your phone bill in 2030? Choices: T-Mobile, Verizon, AT&T, SpaceX. SpaceX has satellites; carriers have airwaves.

The full story

Did the market overreact?

On 8 October, SpaceX agreed to buy more airwaves for Starlink Mobile, a phone service of its own. Airwaves are the radio space a phone signal travels on.

The next day: Verizon fell 8.8%, its worst day since 2002. T-Mobile fell 13.3%. AT&T fell 9.8%.

Now look at what SpaceX holds. With this deal, about 79 MHz of airwaves. One analyst estimate puts AT&T, T-Mobile and Verizon at 280 to 380 MHz each. T-Mobile's own annual report says 394 MHz at the end of 2025. More airwaves means more phones at the same time.

The catch: airwaves can be bought, and SpaceX is buying. It also has thousands of satellites the carriers do not have. This deal still needs approval from the US regulator, the FCC. Starlink Mobile is not on sale yet.

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