SpaceX aims to secure at least 80,000 cell sites across the US and is talking with at least one major cellular infrastructure company, Bloomberg reported Oct. 22, citing people familiar with the private discussions. Crown Castle is one of the companies in talks, Bloomberg reported. Potential agreements would advance SpaceX’s path toward building a fourth nationwide wireless carrier; the report did not announce a deal.
Asked on an Oct. 21 earnings call whether Crown Castle was discussing leases with SpaceX, Amazon.com or other satellite telecom providers, CEO Chris Hillabrant replied, “You can assume that we’re talking to all parties.” He declined to discuss specific customers, according to Bloomberg’s account republished by The Straits Times.
The same account says SpaceX recently acquired low-band spectrum and won Federal Communications Commission approval to launch 15,000 satellites designed to provide service directly to phones. SpaceX CEO Elon Musk said on an earnings call that week that the company would build out terrestrial networks. Satellite launches and the spectrum acquisition “will pave the way for Starlink Mobile to become a major mobile carrier in the US,” he said, according to the republished Bloomberg report.
In Bloomberg’s account republished by The Straits Times, SpaceX has said it plans to use home Internet equipment to emit mobile signals near customers’ installations. The account cites research firm MoffettNathanson for the caveat that those locations are not necessarily where a network needs sites for consistent coverage. Tower sites would be another component of reliable coverage, the report says. Securing access to them remains a prospective step, not a completed network.
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