The U.S. wireless industry spent decades building something that wasn’t designed to be easily replicated. Spectrum licenses, that is to say radio frequencies, were granted following regulatory procedures measured in years. The tower networks required billions of dollars in long-term leases and site agreements on hundreds of thousands of private parcels.
Space X CEO Elon Musk spent about two years buying the same types of assets. SpaceX acquired about $17 billion of spectrum and entered into a separate deal to buy another major block of airwaves. He has also held talks with tour companies regarding access to sites across the country.
At the Baron Investment Conference on November 6, Musk appeared via video and said something that sent telecom stocks moving in opposite directions within hours. The remark was brief and conditional. Its implications were not.
What Musk said and what happened
Musk said SpaceX could acquire a legacy wireless carrier and use its licensed airwaves more efficiently than the current owner. He named no targets, filed no documents and made no commitments on a timetable. The wording excluded nothing.
Also read: Goldman Sachs and Apollo change position on SpaceX
“We could just acquire this old telecom company and use their spectrum, you know, ten times more efficiently,” Musk said at the Baron Investment Conference.
T-Mobile (TMUS) rose 0.88% on November 6, and Verizon (VZ) and AT&T (T) each slipped about 0.89%.
SpaceX shares climbed 8.62% to $134.27, although the stock was down 19.89% from the previous month during a broader market downturn.
T-Mobile shares have fallen 18.46% year to date, in part because investors are already weighing the likelihood of a fourth major competitor. The company reported third-quarter earnings per share of $3.22 versus estimates of $2.89 and revenue of $23.6 billion versus expectations of $23.1 billion. It raised its full-year core adjusted EBITDA guidance to $37.45 billion from $37.35 billion and announced a 15% dividend increase to $1.17 per share, payable Dec. 10.
What SpaceX already controls
A company needs the legal right to use specific frequency bands, otherwise it cannot function as a cell phone provider for most consumers. SpaceX spent approximately $17 billion to acquire the AWS-4 and H-block licenses from EchoStar in a deal announced in September 2025, structured as $8.5 billion in cash and $8.5 billion in SpaceX stock.
SpaceX has also agreed to acquire a portfolio of national 800 MHz licenses, with that deal expected to close in the first half of 2027. Reports that SpaceX has held discussions about Boost Mobile, the prepaid brand that comes with the EchoStar deal, have not been confirmed by the company.
Deutsche Telekom CEO Tim Höttges estimated SpaceX’s total spectrum at around 79 MHz of low- and mid-band radio waves during Deutsche Telekom’s November 5 earnings call. He described that position as a “dirt track” compared to T-Mobile’s roughly 400 MHz “highway” and said the company was taking SpaceX’s entry seriously.
Musk argued that SpaceX can close this gap by combining satellite coverage with direct-to-cell technology and a different network architecture. SpaceX already offers direct satellite-to-cell service in limited markets through a partnership with T-Mobile –– a live test of the concept behind its efficiency argument. If SpaceX can use an existing carrier’s spectrum much more cost-effectively, acquiring one becomes more efficient and faster than building a competing network from scratch.
SpaceX has held discussions with tower companies regarding access to about 80,000 sites across the country.hapabapa/Getty Images
Why acquiring a carrier is harder than it seems
Höttges said during the Nov. 5 conference call that SpaceX would need at least $200 billion to compete with established U.S. carriers. This figure covers spectrum, towers, backhaul links and all operational costs of operating a national wireless company. Spectrum alone does not constitute a carrier.
Acquiring a carrier would transfer assets and liabilities simultaneously. AT&T disclosed $159.6 billion in total debt as of September 30, 2026. Verizon reported $136.1 billion in unsecured debt just for the same period. Any buyer would assume these obligations alongside spectrum, customer and tower leases.
SpaceX has held discussions with tower companies about access to about 80,000 sites across the country, a footprint that would roughly match the scale of existing operator networks. Leasing towers has recurring costs that compound no matter how efficiently SpaceX uses its spectrum.
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Any deal involving a major U.S. carrier would require review by the Federal Communications Commission and antitrust clearance. No U.S. carrier acquisition on this scale has quickly cleared bureaucratic hurdles. The FCC also controls spectrum license transfers, which are critical to the value of such a deal.
Review of the T-Mobile and Sprint merger took more than two years from announcement to closing. A SpaceX deal involving AT&T or Verizon would attract much greater scrutiny from regulators and existing carriers.
The next step
The closing of the 800 MHz license planned for the first half of 2027 is the next concrete step in SpaceX’s wireless strategy. These frequencies cover long distances and penetrate buildings more reliably than higher band spectrum. If this deal is completed on time, SpaceX will hold three separate blocks of spectrum, covering the low and mid bands that a national operator needs.
Until SpaceX files a formal notice of acquisition with regulators, Musk’s remarks at the Baron conference remain a strategic signal rather than a live transaction. It took months from the EchoStar deal being announced to closing. A carrier-wide acquisition of AT&T or Verizon would likely be one of the largest corporate transactions in U.S. history.
T-Mobile responded to investor concerns about SpaceX with higher third-quarter profit. Its third-quarter earnings and revenue results, raised EBITDA guidance and dividend increase were all aimed at a shareholder base that includes a fourth competitor. Carriers are spending and positioning as if one were coming.
The closing of Space Neither has happened yet.
Related: Elon Musk issues strong warning to investors as 2027 approaches
This story was originally published by The street on November 9, 2026, where he first appeared in the Invest section. Add TheStreet as Favorite source by clicking here.
