#telecom

Good luck guys!

I was laid off in December 2025 so my 50% cellular discount ends next month. I also need new phones. T-Mobile is offering the iPhone 18 Pro Max 256GB for $3 a month when you port over from Verizon. Their top tier plan is $150 for two lines (for us over 65). I'm paying Verizon $100 a month now. When my discount drops to 25% it would be the same rate. I don't begrudge Verizon for laying me off, that's just business, but it will be nice to finally wash my hands of them. I wish Verizon and everyone there the best. But I will smile when I see Elon crush them in a couple of years :)

Is Qualcomm Musk’s First Big Mistake in Terrestrial Telecom?

SpaceX wants to build thousands of 5G sites using Qualcomm. But the choice of supplier, 64T64R radios, limited spectrum and enormous deployment challenges raise serious questions about Musk’s strategy

https://sebastianbarros.substack.com/p/is-qualcomm-musks-first-big-mistake

He will want nothing to do with ATT.

As much as I despise the Muskrat,, I gotta admit this is a smart strategy.
An outright purchase maybe with a financial value around $3-5 billion with a potential strategic value to Musk/Starlink @ $5-10 billion
Boost's primary network is AT&T, with additional tMobile network access.
Boost Mobile customers do not always receive the same network priority as AT&T's own postpaid customers, but ran-to satellite handoff threshold parameters ( maybe for a fee, or alternative subscription price plan option) could possibly resolve that issue.
FirstNet, Frontline, and T-Priority would lose some of their value add.
Another consideration is if one of the big 3 carriers decides to cave and be the first to partner up with Starlink in order to get a more favorable deal.

Dan said SpaceX will need at least 4-6 years to fully build out its Starlink Mobile U.S. carrier network
Elon replied it will take 2 or 3 years
so Who is correct ?

Who walks D2D?

Just heard him in a meeting just now joke about elon and the hardships of running a telecom company. senior management is still in denial...

SpaceX reached a deal to buy cellular spectrum licenses from investment firm Grain Management, its biggest move yet into a wireless market dominated by traditional telecom companies.

The U.S. licenses, which are in the 800-megahertz band, are tailored for wireless service from cellphone towers rather than satellites. The spectrum could serve SpaceX’s stated ambition of moving its Starlink satellite service beyond broadband into the wireless market to compete with the likes of AT&T & Verizon.

U.S. cellphone carrier stocks sank on the news. Shares in AT&T, Verizon and T-Mobile all fell more than 6% after the post-close announcement. SpaceX shares climbed about 3% to $165.10 after hours.

Verizon, AT&T and T-Mobile stock just dropped 7% after-hours after
@SpaceX
announced that it has acquired spectrum licenses, bringing it closer to becoming a full-fledged mobile carrier in the U.S.

Starlink Mobile is about to change the game.

https://www.cnbc.com/2026/10/08/spacex-spectrum-license-att-verizon-tmobile.html

Why should the govt fund NVIDIA and DELL ORACLE FACEBOOK .
Vz develops critical infrastructure and funds using investors money. They have been funding their own business for the last 25 years.
Telecom companies get short changed by layoffs, wage plateau, strict confromation to financial guidelines and legal complainces .
Social media companies get a free ride all the way.
Evaluations for
Nvida-$5.7Trillion
Dell-$350billion
Oracle-$450billion
Msft- $3.9 trillion
Google-$4.2 trillion
VZ - $189billion

https://www.lightreading.com/ai-machine-learning/telstra-s-tech-chief-asks-telcos-to-fix-basics-before-chasing-ai

Telecom service providers are not ready for the AI economy, and the gap is in their networks and operations, Kim Krogh Andersen, Group Executive – Network, Product and Technology at Telstra, said during the recently concluded FutureNet Asia event.

He spoke candidly about his own company's position, saying a recent internal assessment put Telstra below Level 2 on TM Forum's Autonomous Networks Framework, which uses six levels (Level 0 to Level 5) to rank a telco's progress to full autonomy. "It is a bit of a downer to talk about intent-based slicing before you get the fundamentals right," said Andersen.
.....
"AI exploits the vulnerabilities, the basic stuff we have not done in the past," he said, pointing to frontier models that can find and exploit gaps at machine speed.
.....

What a back-flip . . ... .

Fiber salespeople were cut today ?

https://www.executiveheadlines.com/telecom/lumen-1,200-layoffs-revenue-challenges

Now that Verizon is no longer trying to compete in the wireless business, competition is heating up in the fiber business. Are we ready or will there be more layoffs from this?

September 8, 2026 11:11 AM EDT
Verizon signs optical fiber deal with Corning to expand broadband
https://www.reuters.com/business/media-telecom/verizon-signs-optical-fiber-deal-with-corning-expand-broadband-support-ai-growth-2026-09-08/

September 29, 2026 9:30 AM EDT
AT&T signs over $3 billion fiber deal with Corning as data demand surges
https://www.reuters.com/business/media-telecom/att-signs-over-3-billion-fiber-deal-with-corning-data-demand-surges-2026-09-29/

Are we even trying to get Verizon's name on the list so customers will see it if they are considering which service is the best?

Or is Verizon wireless to be left on the side of the road to give more attention and dollars to AI data centers?

The Opensignal Annual Global 5G Awards 2026 highlight the top-performing mobile network operators worldwide based on real-world data across large and small land-area markets.

And I can't find Verizon's name in there anywhere.

Large Land-Area Markets
5G Coverage Experience: T-Mobile (USA)
5G Download Speed: Vivo (Brazil)
5G Games Experience: Telekom (Germany)
5G Reliability: au (Japan) and SoftBank (Japan)
5G Voice App Experience: au (Japan)
Time on 5G: T-Mobile (USA)
5G Video Experience: Tied among 12 operators (Elisa and DNA in Finland; T-Mobile, Orange, and Play in Poland; Tele2, 3, and Telenor in Sweden; Telenor, ice, and Telia in Norway; Telia in Finland)

Small Land-Area Markets
5G Coverage Experience: Singtel (Singapore)
5G Download Speed: SK Telecom (South Korea)
5G Games Experience: Swisscom (Switzerland)
5G Reliability: Telenor (Denmark), Norlys (Denmark), A1 (Austria), and A1 (Slovenia)
5G Video Experience: Odido (Netherlands)
5G Voice App Experience: KT (South Korea)
Time on 5G: StarHub (Singapore)

layoffs started in 2022-2023 and have been affected almost all departments/functions since then. everyone who thought they were “safe” had little to no empathy for those let go early. now the company is in a tailspin and everyone is “nervous” and “worried”. cable tv and phone have been low hanging fruit for over 10-15 years, internet has gone downhill and competitors are now actually able to be competitive despite the local cable lines dictating service providers, and home security is a bust. the executives here are unqualified, outdated, and care more about image and power than actually helping their teams. it’s just a matter of time people.. start looking before you end up “surprised” at the sc--w you coming.

Hey Verizon!!! Are you having a good day? I hope you are having a good day. T-Mobile is having a great day!!!

T-Mobile scores another 5G first, and customers are already reaping the benefits
https://www.phonearena.com/news/t-mobile-5g-sa-roaming_id183512

How many employees will be RIFed over the worst iPhone launch ever? Little to no sales….. little phone calls….. unheard of…….

How many employees will be RIFed over the worst iPhone launch ever? Little to no sales….. little phone calls….. unheard of…….

Everyone will be a VP soon. The org chart is bloated with VP's and the VP's themselves are bloated. Talent gets you nowhere in Telecom management especially in Uniti/Windstream culture. About 75% of all VP's are crony appointments and the others are Telecom lifers with talent but waiting for their severance package.

VP's! It's VP's ALL THE WAY DOWN! The job title bloat is unreal but what do you do in a shrinking industry full of telecom lifers.

High P/E Valuation Leaders in Telecom
💡 T-Mobile US (TMUS)
P/E Ratio: ~25x – 26xDriver: Aggressive 5G subscriber acquisition and strong post-merger cash flows.💡 Bharti Airtel (BHARTIARTL.NS)
P/E Ratio: ~37x – 42x
Driver: Rapid ARPU (Average Revenue Per User) expansion and digital services growth in India.
💡 Bharti Hexacom (BHARTIHEXA.NS)
P/E Ratio: ~41x – 42x
Driver: Premium regional positioning and high growth multiples in the Indian market.
💡 Chunghwa Telecom (2412.TW)
P/E Ratio: ~27x
Driver: Stable, high-margin defensive caching and dominant market share in Taiwan.

📉 Low Valuation (Value)
Verizon (VZ): ~12.5x
AT&T (T): ~8.8x
China Mobile (941.HK): ~10.5x
Deutsche Telekom (DTE.DE): ~15.6x

https://www.visible.com/m/home?CMP=MarketingTactic-KNC_Site-GAW_Funnel-AC_AudienceType-PSP_Audience-BRO_Tactic-BRA_Initiative-BAU_VideoType-NV&gclsrc=aw.ds&gad_source=1&gad_campaignid=1508394360&gbraid=0AAAAACaP9A_7ywaObV1nv9YIkiYp13YdZ&gclid=CjwKCAjwn67VBhBnEiwAXUIN1fQ67FggrBRQqSQEY4mabf7mY7ydIne5dBED6vgFUfwW_ejaMPc2RBoCRscQAvD_BwE

Verizon scales back a perk that keeps prices low for customers

Verizon is walking back a commitment it made to customers just last year as it faces a changing competitive landscape.

https://www.thestreet.com/retail/verizon-removes-price-lock-guarantee-from-myplan

Verizon and Corning to deploy 80 million miles of fiber for broadband and AI

The Wall Street Journal by Connor Hart, September 8, 2026

Verizon and Corning reached a multibillion-dollar agreement to deploy more than 80 million miles of high-density optical fiber across the nation over the coming five years to help meet surging demand for consumer broadband and converged services.

By expanding this critical interconnectivity, Verizon said it is cementing its position as a premier infrastructure partner for the world’s leading AI hyperscalers. “Securing this volume of fiber allows us to continue building the network of the future at an unprecedented scale,” said Kyle Malady, CEO of Verizon Business.

Also reported by Barron’s, CNBC and Reuters

I was laid off in June and I’m on my third billing cycle for my family plan post-layoff and I’m still getting half off. Does anyone know when the employee discount ends? I was told two cycles but surprised it’s still there..

Given that Deutsche Telekom is a majority owner of T-Mobile US and that it will reduce the satellite spectrum that US competition may want to purchase. Does the BT Group partnership keep Verizon at the table or are they trying to out maneuver Verizon?

Europe’s biggest mobile operators in talks for satellite-to-mobile venture

https://www.reuters.com/business/media-telecom/europes-biggest-mobile-operators-talks-satellite-to-mobile-venture-bloomberg-2026-09-07/

Sept 7 (Reuters) - Deutsche Telekom (DTEGn.DE), Orange (ORAN.PA), Vodafone Group (VOD.L), and Telefonica (TEF.MC), are in early talks to ​create a consortium to bid on European Union ‌satellite spectrum and offer direct-to-mobile services, Bloomberg News reported on Monday, citing people familiar with the matter.

The group would jointly bid ​for a share of 2 gigahertz airwaves that ​the EU has proposed reserving for a local ⁠operator, a plan aimed at increasing sovereign satellite capabilities, ​the report added.

No final decisions on the consortium or ​plans to bid have been made, Bloomberg said.

Vodafone, Orange, and Telefonica declined to comment, while Deutsche Telekom did not immediately respond ​to requests for comment.

In May, the European Union announced ​plans to allocate the bulk of valuable satellite spectrum for mobile ‌phone ⁠service to European companies while reducing the share that U.S. operators can acquire, in a push to promote domestic businesses and reduce reliance on Big Tech.

The ​European Commission designated ​two-thirds of ⁠the spectrum on the bloc's IRIS multi-orbit array of 290 satellites for commercial ​use, divided equally between EU and non-EU ​operators.

The ⁠consortium would bid on the EU operator portion.

IRIS is Europe's response to Starlink, and is led by the ⁠European ​Commission and a consortium made ​up of SES SA (SESFg.LU), Eutelsat (ETL.PA), and HispaSat.

Texas appears to be the hardest-hit state, with a significant number of reports coming from the Dallas area, including Frisco and Grand Prairie. Some users also reported disruptions to AT&T's cellular internet services.

https://www.hindustantimes.com/world-news/us-news/att-internet-outage-update-hundreds-report-fiber-and-broadband-services-down-texas-louisiana-affected-101788804996998.html

T-Mobile ranked best overall in the US and best in the majority of states. No bueno!

https://www.pcmag.com/articles/the-best-mobile-networks-usa-2026

I know discussions are ongoing but when will they end? Leadership rushing to put icing on the cake to get T-Mobile ready but will there be bidding war from Elon or others?

Frontier = fiber-optic internet, TV/streaming, and phone service, mainly for residential/small business, historically stronger in certain regional/rural fiber buildouts.
• Verizon = wireless service (phones, tablets) plus its own home internet (Fios fiber, 5G Home Internet), historically stronger nationwide, especially for mobile.
• Now combined: Since the acquisition, Verizon has been bundling the two — for example, offers combining Frontier fiber internet with Verizon mobile plans, like free months of fiber plus discounted phone lines.

Frontier is a Verizon company .. now all Frontier and Verizon employee together.

99 year leases on 1f to VZW.. frontier purchases. Selling dark fiber, how long before the wireless side is divested? Clearly they keep reducing non union employees numbers to make it a much more appealing sell and locking in the fiber leases secures revenue. The ducks are in a row

lets all do kegstands. today im moving my family’s lines including in-laws to prepaid owned directly by tmobile or at&t.

unlike most company workers, verizon employees can hurt the performance of their company by choosing not to do business with verizon. humiliate verizon by promoting competitors on social media.

What are your thoughts of Space X acquiring Verizon?
https://www.semafor.com/article/07/29/2026/with-spacex-circling-verizon-figures-out-succession

Word is that frontier copper and fiber splicers will have to transition to the one tech out role “ Combo Technician” 1/27

SpaceX's first earnings call (Aug 2026) after its June IPO, where President Gwynne Shotwell and CEO Elon Musk announced plans to build a real terrestrial mobile network, not just satellite-to-phone backup service, putting them in direct competition with AT&T, T-Mobile, and Verizon.

The core plan

• SpaceX is acquiring 65 MHz of spectrum from EchoStar (~$17B deal) that includes rights to build ground-based ("terrestrial") service, not just satellite.
• Instead of building traditional giant cell towers, SpaceX wants to turn existing Starlink satellite dishes (already on rooftops) into small cellular base stations ("femtocells") — cheap and already deployed.
• Musk argues this could give better/higher bandwidth coverage than today's carriers, especially since dishes have unobstructed sky/ground views.
• Shotwell claims the upgraded system (new spectrum + next-gen satellites) will be "100x better" than current Starlink Mobile. New satellites start launching next year (2027), with service beginning end of 2027.
• Shotwell won't disclose the buildout budget — she says the femtocell approach lets them scale spending gradually instead of huge upfront capex.

Why analysts are skeptical

• 65 MHz is tiny next to what AT&T/T-Mobile/Verizon collectively hold (over 1,000 MHz).
• One analyst (Craig Moffett) says without an MVNO deal from an existing carrier, Starlink can't realistically be "competitive" in the next 5 years — and the Big 3 have all declined to do MVNO deals with Starlink.
• The Big 3 are pooling spectrum/resources in a joint venture partly to blunt this threat.
• The podcast (Recon Analytics) gives a more detailed, more bullish-but-nuanced technical theory: SpaceX will likely buy 800 MHz spectrum (from a company called Grain, originally from Dish/T-Mobile swap) for wide rural coverage on tall "macro" towers, then densify using its EchoStar/AWS spectrum, and eventually buy upper C-band spectrum for cities — all timed around the 2027 5G-NTN satellite standard. Their view: SpaceX will dominate rural coverage and be a real disruptor, but won't fully replace AT&T/Verizon/T-Mobile as a nationwide equal within the next several years.
• The IEEE ComSoc "Analysis & Opinion" piece (AI-assisted) argues the most likely outcome isn't a full carrier build-out or acquiring a carrier, but a hybrid: buy spectrum + selectively lease/acquire small assets, build only where economically justified, and lean on satellite for the rest — because SpaceX's capital is increasingly being pulled toward AI data center spending instead.

Bottom line: SpaceX/Starlink is signaling serious intent to become a real, direct competitor to the wireless carriers — not just a satellite backup service — using spectrum it's acquiring and a low-cost "distributed small station" approach rather than traditional towers. Nearly everyone agrees this is a real threat (all three carriers' stocks dropped after the earnings call), but there's real debate over the timeline (2027 vs. 2030+) and whether it ever becomes a true fourth national carrier versus a strong niche/rural player that pressures the incumbents.

https://www.foxbusiness.com/fox-news-tech/verizon-suffers-outage-some-parts-us-thousands-reports

https://www.cnbc.com/2026/08/08/verizon-mobile-outage-downdetector.html

https://thepcenthusiast.com/verizon-outage-disrupts-voice-calls-across-the-us-service-now-restored/

How to separate the real signals from the hype: Starlink's business opportunity is narrower than marketing suggests.Large businesses (72%) are most receptive to Starlinkaugmented ISPs. Midsize (62%) and small businesses (44%) less so 12
27% of small businesses stay with bad providers because there are no alternatives—this is Starlink's strongest directsales case Starlink wins in coverage gaps, not headtohead competition with fiber/cable in dense areas.. Direct toDevice (D2D) is technically real—but limitedFrom measurement based research (arXiv, May 2025): ~4 Mbps per beam in outdoor conditions—functional for basic services, far below terrestrial averages.
Service progression is gradual:

1. Text messaging
2. Limited voice/lowrate data
3. Basic web in uncovered areas
4. Higher speeds later (more satellites, spectrum)
   Reality check: D2D works, but it's not 5G replacement territory yet.. Spectrum sharing is the real battleground Starlink doesn't want Cband auctions—it wants to share spectrum This a "power play"—if SpaceX gets this, what stops them from getting any spectrum they want? Wireless industry (CTIA) wants auctions; Starlink wants flexible sharing frameworks
   This is about regulatory strategy. Carrier partnerships are pragmatic, not strategic surrender.TMobile's SuperBroadband (5G + Starlink) uses satellite as failover/backup 2
   AT&T/Verizon's joint satellite initiative is technical alignment, not a defensive wall 5
   Carriers retain customer relationships; Starlink becomes infrastructure layer
   Carriers aren't folding—they're hedging.
   Physics constraints: limited spectrum per beam, shared capacity, lineofsight requirements
   Starlink lacks: retail distribution, billing infrastructure, customer support at carrier scale
   Current capacity: ~4 Mbps vs. terrestrial 5G at 100+ Mbps 3
   Starlink complements coverage; it doesn't replace dense networks.
   D2D messaging market is modest—Apple's Globalstar deal costs ~$100M/year for global coverage 6
   Economic return unclear on D2D investments
   Regulatory hurdles remain significant (some countries ban terrestrial spectrum use from space).D2D is a coverage feature, not a standalone business model.
   Carriers own spectrum, customers, and terrestrial infrastructure
   They can diversify (AST SpaceMobile, OneWeb, etc.)
   Dependency would commoditize carriers—they'll resist.Carriers will use Starlink selectively, not surrender control.Starlink will monopolize satellite telecom" Starlink has a huge lead but won't monopolize the global market:
   Competition from: Amazon Kuiper, OneWeb/Eutelsat, AST SpaceMobile, traditional GEO providers.Starlink leads, but the market is multiplayer.What's actually happening is subtler but more important:Starlink's biggest opportunity: filling coverage gaps + backup connectivity. Not replacing fiber/cable in competitive markets.Carrier channels (TMobile, Comcast) can reach enterprise accounts Starlink can't efficiently
   Cband spectrum request is a "power play" to establish precedent for spectrum sharing 4
   D2D market size far smaller than fixed broadband opportunity.
   Wireless industry shouldn't pop champagne yet on Cband. Outcome uncertain; compromises possible (some spectrum for exclusive use, some for satellite sharing)
   Starlink is becoming infrastructure layer that carriers may rent. Regulatory flexibility (spectrum sharing, buildout waivers) is the key variable Coverage gaps and backup are the nearterm sweet spots
   What to watch:
   FCC decisions on spectrum sharing and buildout requirements
   Carrier responses (partnerships vs. competitive satellite investments)
   Actual D2D performance as more satellites deployThe shift is from "satellite vs. telecom" to "satellite as part of telecom"—but that's a gradual evolution, not a sudden takeover.