Satellite

Wireless Carriers Not Worried About Competition from SpaceX

The satellite company sent leaders to MWC this week to tease plans for its Starlink Mobile service.

Jake Neenan

Jake Neenan

— 2 min read
Wireless Carriers Not Worried About Competition from SpaceX
Photo of T-Mobile CEO Srini Gopalan from the company

WASHINGTON, March 5, 2026 – The major mobile carriers aren’t worried about head-to-head competition from SpaceX’s direct-to-cell service, executives said this week.

The satellite company talked up its ambitions for that service, now called Starlink Mobile, at Mobile World Congress earlier this week. SpaceX is ultimately targeting “hundreds of millions” of customers worldwide and aims to provide much faster 150 megabits per second speeds with its next-generation constellation, about 1,200 of which the company aims to launch in 2027.

Executives said the service currently has 10 million active global users served by 650 satellites, which provide service in the U.S. through a partnership with T-Mobile on the carrier’s spectrum. SpaceX is buying airwaves from EchoStar with which it aims to power the next-generation service.

Post tagged in
Satellite MWC2026 MWC AT&T Verizon T-Mobile SpaceX Starlink Mobile Michael Nicholls Jeff McElfresh Srini Gopalan Dan Schulman

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