The leadership doesn't care if SpaceX eventually proves to be a 'competitor' to VZ. They will be gone. The Poem CEO won't be around to care for any 'competition'. His job is to cut, cut and cut - offer the best 'value' for the shareholder - and get his 'bonus' for gutting the company for AI bots. And move onto to the next company he can chop up.
When SpaceX is ready to compete - it will be easy - they won't have as many layers of management bloat, they can adjust to the changing market quicker than the dinosaur telco companies, and they will focus on the customer first, not the shareholders.
The old bloated telcos from years past are struggling to rein in costs - no matter how much money they 'save' from cutting humans - the other costs for infrastructure upkeep (rising vendor prices to fix systems, generator fuel prices) will counter any 'savings'. And the AI slop chaos it will create will overwhelm the outsourced network groups.
https://www.techdirt.com/2026/06/09/ceos-who-think-ai-replaces-their-employees-are-just-bad-ceos/