SpaceX has a deal to purchase nationwide low-band spectrum licenses for a planned terrestrial mobile network that would complement the space-based Starlink cellular service.

SpaceX will buy up to 14 megahertz of spectrum in the 800 MHz band from investment firm Grain Management, which bought the spectrum rights from T-Mobile earlier this year. T-Mobile had obtained the spectrum when it bought Sprint in 2020 and was required to sell the licenses under a merger condition imposed by the US government.

“This prime low-band spectrum addresses one of the key remaining technical gaps that will pave the way for Starlink Mobile to become a major mobile carrier in the US,” SpaceX said yesterday. SpaceX this week also received US approval to launch 15,000 satellites for an upgraded version of its mobile service that it says will be far more powerful than the current offering.

The 800 MHz spectrum licenses cover “approximately 100 percent of the US population,” the Federal Communications Commission said in a July 2026 order approving Grain’s purchase of the T-Mobile licenses. While the licenses are nationwide, it’s not a huge amount of spectrum. It ranges from 4.85 megahertz to 14 megahertz depending on the county. The FCC said the 800 MHz spectrum can be used for terrestrial service, satellite-to-mobile service, or both.

SpaceX’s low-band purchase is in addition to 65 MHz of nationwide mid-band spectrum licenses it is buying from EchoStar. The FCC approved that $17 billion purchase in May 2026.

“While Starlink Mobile’s global 2 GHz mid-band spectrum will provide high-bandwidth capacity in the United States, this new low-band spectrum will provide a coverage layer that ensures Starlink Mobile’s signal penetrates through obstacles, such as walls, and can provide service to customers’ devices even when they are in buildings. Critically, most existing mobile devices already support this underused band,” SpaceX said.

SpaceX’s big mobile plans

SpaceX’s spectrum deal is likely to be approved by the FCC, but it could face opposition from small carriers. The Rural Wireless Association opposed EchoStar’s spectrum sales to AT&T and SpaceX, saying the deals “continue the troubling pattern of spectrum aggregation that disadvantages rural wireless providers.” Across all carriers in the US, there is about 1.1 GHz of licensed spectrum allocated to mobile operators, with the big three holding dominant spectrum portfolios.

SpaceX has been claiming for months that Starlink Mobile will eventually offer better service than AT&T, T-Mobile, and Verizon. SpaceX previously focused on partnering with carriers and providing them with satellite coverage for dead spots in their terrestrial networks. Stock prices for AT&T, T-Mobile, Verizon, and satellite company AST SpaceMobile fell sharply today in response to SpaceX’s spectrum deal.

SpaceX’s partner for mobile service in the US is T-Mobile, and the space company leased 10 MHz of nationwide mid-band spectrum from T-Mobile as part of that deal. With this week’s Grain deal, SpaceX is buying former T-Mobile spectrum in order to compete against the giant wireless carrier.

CEO Elon Musk said in August that Starlink would deploy many small base stations instead of “expensive and difficult-to-locate large cellular base stations.” He said the Starlink broadband antennas on the roofs of houses and businesses can help provide connectivity to cellphones.

SpaceX yesterday submitted a filing that asks the FCC to approve the low-band purchase. It said the deployment “will rely on radios feeding sectorized antennas on towers, rooftops, and other structures, configured to provide reliable signal coverage and meaningful broadband service. The propagation characteristics of 800 MHz (long-range coverage, strong performance against terrain and clutter, and superior building penetration) make this paired low-band spectrum an efficient coverage layer for markets of all sizes and densities, including areas where higher-frequency networks cannot serve.”

New satellites

SpaceX has launched 650 Direct-to-Device satellites for its current mobile service and plans to launch up to 15,000 next-generation satellites for a more powerful version. The FCC approved the 15,000-satellite application on Tuesday.

“The V2 Starlink Mobile satellites will deliver more than 100 times the bandwidth of our current generation, bringing high-speed service directly to unmodified devices anywhere in the world,” SpaceX said yesterday. “Additionally, the FCC authorized the full range of backhaul bands (in Ka/V/E/W) used by Starlink’s V3 broadband satellites, enabling them to operate with the existing Starlink gateway network.”

SpaceX said that once it deploys all its spectrum and launches next-generation satellites, it will be able to offer US residents “a reliable service indoors, outdoors, in cellular dead zones, and everywhere in between.” SpaceX previously told the Canadian government in a filing that it “will begin launching its next-generation Starlink direct-to-device satellites with service beginning by late 2027,” and launch “thousands more satellites” by the end of 2028.

Terms of the SpaceX/Grain spectrum deal were not disclosed. Grain originally obtained the spectrum from T-Mobile in a swap that included cash and other spectrum licenses. Specifically, T-Mobile sold its 800 MHz spectrum licenses to Grain for $2.9 billion and Grain’s 600 MHz spectrum licenses that consist of 10 MHz in 212 counties covering approximately 15 percent of the US population.

“The 800 MHz licenses that Grain is acquiring (817–824 MHz paired with 862–869 MHz)—a valuable source of paired, broadband-ready, low-band spectrum—have been underutilized in recent years,” the FCC said in its approval of the cash-and-spectrum swap.

Big carriers pool spectrum to counter SpaceX

Dish was previously given the first option to buy the 800 MHz spectrum under a merger condition imposed by the US Department of Justice on T-Mobile’s purchase of Sprint. Dish declined the option to buy it for $3.59 billion, and the offer expired in 2024, forcing T-Mobile to find a new buyer.

AT&T, T-Mobile, and Verizon are trying to counter SpaceX’s moves into mobile by pooling spectrum for a new joint venture focused on using satellite to cover dead zones in terrestrial networks. The big three carriers finalized the joint venture agreement last week, saying it will give other satellite operators a better chance to compete.

The venture will “improve the application and utilization of valuable and scarce nationally licensed spectrum resources,” the carriers said. They said they plan industry-wide device compatibility through a “standards-based approach to development involving operating system providers, mobile app developers and original equipment manufacturers.”

Existing carrier-satellite agreements will remain in place, and the three big carriers “can continue connectivity efforts independently,” the press release said. Meanwhile, an FCC plan announced this week could auction 25 MHz of mid-band spectrum for use in terrestrial and satellite networks.

The FCC also proposed rule changes that would allow 482 MHz of spectrum to be used for satellite-to-mobile service. This would be an expansion of the Supplemental Coverage from Space (SCS) framework in which terrestrial wireless spectrum is made available for satellite use.