SpaceX (SPCX.US) complements the low-band spectrum and points to the US mobile communications market! The three major US telecom stocks collectively dived after the market

The Zhitong Finance App learned that SpaceX (SPCX.US) has reached an agreement to acquire a low band spectrum license package covering the entire US for mobile communications, paving the way for its Starlink Mobile (Starlink Mobile) service to directly enter the US telecom market. This will enable it to use Starlink satellites to become a “major mobile operator” in the US. Elon Musk said in an article on the X platform on Thursday that this low-band spectrum is “the last critical piece in the spectrum puzzle required by SpaceX to provide the US with complete mobile coverage.”

Shares of the three major US telecom operators fell after the market due to increased competition and concerns about a potential price war. As of press time, AT&T (T.US), T-Mobile US (TMUS.US), and Verizon (VZ.US) all fell more than 6%, while SpaceX rose nearly 3%.

According to reports, SpaceX is currently acquiring the US 800 MHz low band spectrum portfolio held by private equity firm Grain Management, and the deal still needs to be approved by the US Federal Communications Commission (FCC). This band includes up to 14 MHz of low-frequency pairs of spectrum, and has strong low-frequency signal penetration, helping to improve coverage of blind spots in indoor, outdoor and traditional cellular networks. Neither SpaceX nor Grain Management publicly disclosed the transaction price of this agreement.

SpaceX said that Starlink Mobile's existing global 2 GHz mid-frequency spectrum can provide higher bandwidth capacity, while the new 800 MHz low-frequency spectrum will address key technical gaps in signal penetration barriers, enabling it to build a “satellite+ground” hybrid network, thereby connecting devices everywhere.

These 800 MHz band licenses were obtained after Grain Management completed a spectrum swap with T-Mobile in August. According to the terms of the deal approved by the US Federal Communications Commission, Grain Management needed to seek bidders to develop this previously underutilized spectrum, as explained in the US Federal Communications Commission's order. The committee previously stated that it hoped that the relevant bidding process would be completed by November 5.

These licenses cover almost the entire US population. The market believes that these spectrums are of great value in helping satellite service providers establish terrestrial connections for voice services, which are known as “network pilots” (network pilots). A person familiar with Grain Management's internal ideas said in August that Grain Management has always believed that although the 800 MHz band was previously only used for terrestrial mobile communication services, satellite services and terrestrial services can still coexist in this band.