SpaceX agreed to acquire Grain Management's nationwide 800 MHz portfolio for Starlink Mobile. The deal needs FCC approval, and shares of T-Mobile, Verizon and AT&T fell more than 6.5 percent in extended trading.
SpaceX agreed on Thursday to acquire a nationwide low-band spectrum portfolio, Reuters reported, a step aimed at letting Starlink Mobile serve ordinary phones without relying on cell towers. The seller is private-equity firm Grain Management, which bought the airwaves from T-Mobile earlier this year. Financial terms were not disclosed.
The portfolio is nationwide 800 MHz spectrum. Low-band frequencies travel farther and pass through walls and tree cover, which Reuters said has been a hurdle for satellite mobile service. Starlink Mobile already holds global 2 GHz mid-band spectrum for capacity. Most existing handsets already support 800 MHz, so customers would not need a dedicated satellite phone.
The deal is for 100 percent of Grain's nationwide 800 MHz portfolio and still needs approval from the Federal Communications Commission. Separately, the FCC this week approved Starlink Mobile's Gen2 constellation application, authorizing SpaceX to launch 15,000 satellites optimized for 2 GHz spectrum globally.
Shares of T-Mobile, Verizon and AT&T fell more than 6.5 percent in extended trading, Reuters said. The report did not give a closing price or a completion date.
The agreement is an acquisition subject to regulatory review. It is not a commercial launch of a nationwide satellite phone service.