Deutsche Telekom CEO says SpaceX must match T-Mobile's 85,000 antennas
Deutsche Telekom · SpaceX · T-Mobile
Per Deutsche Telekom CEO Hottges: Musk 'has to build' 85,000 antennas like T-Mobile's before Starlink Mobile seriously competes.
what happened
On Deutsche Telekom's Q2 earnings webcast October 12, CEO Timotheus Hottges questioned whether SpaceX's Starlink Mobile can seriously challenge US terrestrial wireless carriers, per Benzinga (via TradingView) and Advanced Television. "We have 85,000 mobile antennas in America. [Elon Musk] has to build those first," Hottges said, adding Musk faces "many, many" hurdles. Per Advanced Television, Hottges also said he sees "zero chance" of SpaceX acquiring additional spectrum, noting SpaceX holds 79 MHz compared with T-Mobile's 400 MHz, and that building a US terrestrial network would require SpaceX to make "a double-digit billion-dollar investment." Deutsche Telekom owns a majority stake in T-Mobile US.
why it matters
Hottges made the comments days after SpaceX agreed to buy Grain Management's 800 MHz spectrum for Starlink Mobile, a deal that sent T-Mobile, AT&T, and Verizon shares lower; his skepticism is the dominant carrier shareholder publicly pushing back on the idea that satellite connectivity is close to matching terrestrial coverage, even as T-Mobile's own T-Satellite product already uses Starlink.
signal-to-noise
quick facts
- Companies
- Deutsche Telekom, SpaceX, T-Mobile
- Category
- product
- Impact
- notable
- SNR
- 4 / 5
- Event date
- 2026-10-14
- Published
- 2026-10-14 12:43 UTC