Barclays Says SpaceX Could Buy T-Mobile, Verizon or AT&T to Fast-Track Starlink's Mobile Push

Barclays said SpaceX could speed up Starlink's nationwide mobile expansion by acquiring AT&T ($T), Verizon ($VZ) or T-Mobile ($TMUS), skipping years and potentially hundreds of billions of dollars in terrestrial network development. The firm sees T-Mobile as the strongest fit. The idea follows comments from Elon Musk on Nov. 6 that SpaceX could buy a carrier if it could use the spectrum far more efficiently.

What Barclays says

• Spectrum gap. SpaceX has acquired about 80 MHz of spectrum, versus about 400 MHz at T-Mobile, or roughly one-fifth as much. Deutsche Telekom CEO Tim Hoettges put SpaceX's holdings at 76 MHz on the company's Nov. 5 earnings call.
• What a purchase would bring. Buying a carrier would provide spectrum, infrastructure, roaming, distribution, handset partnerships, customer support and device financing, which would speed up a nationwide service.
• Musk's condition. Barclays notes Musk floated buying a carrier if SpaceX could use its spectrum up to 10 times more efficiently, which the firm describes as unproven.
• Valuations. The three carriers have fallen an average of 10% since late May and trade near 10x forward earnings, down from 12x a year ago, a drop of about 17% in the multiple. Barclays says that could improve acquisition economics.

How Barclays ranks the carriers

Prices are as of about 10:53 a.m. ET Monday, from Google Finance. No talks between SpaceX and any of the three carriers have been reported.

The industry dilemma

Barclays says individual carriers could profit by selling unused network capacity to SpaceX, but they collectively benefit from denying a potential competitor access to terrestrial networks. The firm warns that cooperation from just one of them could reshape the industry.

Starlink's scale

Starlink brought in $5.25B in third-quarter revenue, up 69% from about $3.1B a year earlier, according to SpaceX's results, and adjusted EBITDA rose 82% to $3.5B. It ended September with 13.6M consumer subscribers, up from 7.2M a year earlier, an increase of about 89%, and more than 11,000 satellites are in orbit.

What else is known

• Musk's remarks. Speaking by video at the Baron Investment Conference in New York on Nov. 6, Musk said SpaceX could acquire a legacy telco and use its spectrum ten times more effectively. He named no target, announced no talks and gave no timeline.
• Spectrum deals. SpaceX agreed in September 2025 to buy EchoStar's AWS-4 and H-block spectrum for about $17B, split between cash and stock, and has agreed to buy nationwide 800 MHz licenses, with closing expected in the first half of 2027.
• Boost Mobile. Reports say SpaceX has explored a deal for EchoStar's Boost Mobile, which would give it a retail brand and subscribers. No agreement has been confirmed.
• The cost of building. Verizon CEO Dan Schulman has said building a carrier network would take at least four to six years and cost $300B to $500B, according to TIKR. Hoettges said SpaceX would need at least 200 billion euros to compete effectively.
• Carrier balance sheets. AT&T reported $159.6B of total debt and Verizon $136.1B of unsecured debt as of Sept. 30, according to Beinsure.

What to watch

• Any approach. Whether SpaceX or a carrier confirms talks, and which carrier it involves.
• Spectrum efficiency. Whether SpaceX can show the up-to-tenfold gain Musk described, which Barclays calls unproven.
• Network access deals. Whether any carrier agrees to sell capacity to SpaceX, or whether the group holds the line.
• Regulators. How the FCC and antitrust agencies would treat a satellite operator buying a national carrier.
• Related coverage. See our SpaceX wireless buildout report, the Google and Crusoe report and the Nvidia investigation story.

Sources: Barclays research, with reporting from 24/7 Wall St., Beinsure, TIKR, Pulse 2.0 and KeepTrack. Share prices are from Google Finance. This article is informational only and is not investment advice.