SpaceX has been expanding its footprint in the US telecom market, recently acquiring additional spectrum to develop Starlink Mobile into a full-fledged carrier. The company is also reportedly negotiating access to at least 80,000 cell sites nationwide. A faster route to market would be an MVNO agreement with an established carrier, but T-Mobile CEO Srini Gopalan has ruled out such a partnership with SpaceX.
During T-Mobile's Q3 earnings call, Gopalan stated that the carrier's MVNO strategy remains unchanged, requiring deals that unlock new markets, distribution channels, or capabilities. Since T-Mobile views satellite service as complementary, an MVNO with SpaceX fails to meet these criteria and offers no benefit to its edge AI or 5G SA network expansion efforts.
Gopalan emphasized that a commercial relationship is still possible, such as SpaceX or T-Mobile acting as a customer of the other. He expressed openness to a resale arrangement for complementary products, similar to its existing satellite offering through T-Satellite, but clarified that an MVNO arrangement is fundamentally different.
He also downplayed the value of satellite broadband for T-Mobile's home internet business, calling it an inferior alternative to fixed wireless access, especially given that two-thirds of its internet customers are in dense urban areas.
Notably, Verizon CEO Dan Schulman also recently dismissed MVNO deals with satellite providers, suggesting SpaceX may need to build its network independently.
Source: GSMArena · Summarized by HeadlinesBriefing