SpaceX Acquires Nationwide Low-Band Spectrum Portfolio in the U.S.

SpaceX challenged American mobile operators by agreeing to purchase a portfolio of low-frequency spectrum across the United States. Shares of Verizon, AT&T, and T-Mobile fell by about 6% in after-hours trading on Thursday. The seller, investment firm Grain Management, acquired these frequencies from T-Mobile in August; according to Reuters, SpaceX will pay an undisclosed price.

Spectrum is divided into bands with different properties. Starlink Mobile previously relied on mid-frequency waves at 2 GHz for data capacity, while low-frequency waves travel further and penetrate deeper into buildings, helping the signal pass through structures and foliage. The portfolio includes up to 14 MHz of paired spectrum in the 800 MHz band. Separately, the FCC approved SpaceX's application for a constellation of 15,000 Starlink Mobile Gen2 satellites (Reuters).

AT&T was hit the hardest in after-hours trading, dropping nearly 7%, Verizon lost over 6%, and T-Mobile fell 6% (CNBC). In contrast, SpaceX shares rose by almost 3%. In July, operator shares fell by 4% following a Semafor report on the search for spectrum. At that time, AT&T CEO John Stankey downplayed Starlink's ambitions: "The reality is they are coming to the game very late, after this industry has already been established." T-Mobile closed the sale of the 800 MHz portfolio to Grain on August 11, receiving $2.9 billion in cash and Grain's 600 MHz licenses; the FCC approved the exchange on July 1. Less than two months later, SpaceX agreed to buy Grain's nationwide 800 MHz assets. Meanwhile, T-Mobile itself sells satellite communication based on Starlink under the name T-Satellite. The three largest operators have spent about $110 billion over a decade on most of the low-frequency spectrum in the US—now SpaceX is purchasing a nationwide portfolio in a single deal.