How many of you think that SpaceX will eat telecom business?
Hard days ahead
22 replies (most recent on top)
@ad doubtful, starling is pretty expensive.
@OP People have unrealistic expectations of 5G NTN (Non Terrestrial Networks). Direct to Device has low signal levels, low throughputs, and high connection failure rates.
Starlink terminals have much better performance than smartphones thanks to the external satellite antenna.
RootMetrics tested the service and the results aren’t even in the same league as a terrestrial network:
“RootMetrics® conducted drive testing on Starlink’s D2D service for T-Mobile in rural New York state in the second half of 2025. The tests involved sending and receiving texts on phones that were in a moving car – essentially putting extra stress on a service that’s intended to be used outdoors, in a stationary situation, with a clear view of the sky. Nonetheless, the tests showed a 60% success rate. The average amount of time it took to successfully send and then receive a text (across 143 successful tests) was 1 minute, 17 seconds.
In the U.S., most D2D signal strength measurements (using RSRP, or Reference Signal Received Power) fell between -108 and -126 dBm. That’s outside the -80 to -120 dBm range of traditional, terrestrial cellular network measurements. This is likely due to the remote nature of these D2D connections, which are generally unaffected by interference from other users. They’re often in outdoor environments that aren’t cluttered with lots of other cellular signals, or with the traffic of lots of other users.”
https://www.ookla.com/articles/measuring-the-direct-to-device-d2d-marketplace-2026
@jp Exactly on point. And a takeover he will. Wireless will continue to be gutted for the next year. It’s so obvious what the game plan is.
@kk That article contains a lot of speculation and very few facts.
Elon should have his team design a new smartphone to compete with the iPhone. He’s one of the few people who could pull this off. His strength lies in reimagining tech not in running a stodgy old telco.
https://www.phonearena.com/news/spacex-should-buy-at-t-t-mobile-or-verizon_id181076
@OP just read an article saying that Elon wants to buy T-Mo.
@jz Loser. And, do a search. Lotsa Dems doing the same “ salute” you’re crying about
Cowboy Dan isn’t worried about it so neither should you be.
I’ve thought this for along time / Elon can and will take over the telecom. Either purchased Verizon or just goes direct. This entire spectrum chest pounding is not our last defense we are dealing with the worlds first trillionaire tech genius he can figure it out Dan.
@f0 Forgot the Terafab which is a joint venture between Tesla and SpaceX with Intel providing chip manufacturing expertise.
This could one day outcompete the major chip foundries like Samsung and Taiwan Semiconductor
Satellite (whether Starlink or something else under SpaceX) is important enough that all major carriers are partnering with a satellite provider to extend coverage and be competitive, then I'd say it's going to put carriers in an adopt-or-die position.
T-Mobile has already partnered with Starlink, and satellite plans are live right now. $10 add-on for "second SIM" customers who do not have T-Mobile as their primary. 50 GB data, and SMS/RCS/iMessage capabilities, just no voice.
AT&T and Verizon are partnering with AST for their satellite partner, which I don't know anything about. Anyone who does, please share what plans, coverage, and compatibility may look like.
Cloudy/Stormy skies, tornadoes, hurricanes, thunderstorms, rain, sleet, snow, blizzards. Good luck with your satellite internet service.
@OP SpaceX is a conglomerate with many separate businesses. There’s the rocket / satellite launches where they’re far ahead of the competition. xAI / Grok which competes with Gemini, ChatGPT, and others. X (Twitter) and Starlink. Starlink has the advantage over terrestrial networks in a small sliver of the market where terrestrial networks are weak or unavailable. Ships, airplanes, RVs, military,…
The satellite borne AI mini data centers make sense for the military and for countries with underdeveloped infrastructure.
They’ve only floated 5% of shares and raised $75 billions. Employees will start selling their shares when the lock out periods start expiring.
Long story short, the biggest threats to Verizon continues to be Verizon, T-Mobile, and AT&T, and possibly Charter and Comcast.
@ad BAHAHAHA good one
@a1 any ideas what impacts to VEC hybrid teams will be ?
Elon gonna feast on FiOS customers
A company that according to their S-1 needs to grow by 50% yoy for ten years in a row in order to be profitable? A company that claims that they will have more than a billion customers in ten years?
No, this is a great way for Elmo to make a few $B off of the rubes buying the shares. Most of the proceeds actually go towards insiders cashing out.
Starlink is non-competitive in urban areas - where most potential customers would be.
@OP Just hoping to pick up some shares
@a3 all competitors have the same or similar products, it all comes down to SLA, best cat services, reliability, prices etc. believe it or not Verizon owns a very large NG Fiber Optics Network more than capable of supporting any technology you can throw at it for a foreseeable future. Now, as for the LEO direct to cell providers, it is an alternative to less dense and low serviced areas, like rurals, marine environments, wars...etc where deploying fibers is cost prohibited... it is a great niche for a limited bandwidth services. For enterprise networks, fiber is still king for years to come until Quantum transport networks become a thing.....
We cant even provide service from the ground. What make you thing we can do something from the sky?
@a2 these are good details a I dont know much about the end-to-end delivery!!!
Does Verizon have a niche to exploit or do all the competitors do as well have the same solutioning???
If you ever knew how things work????.....but anyways if the speed and bandwidth of their satellite core transport network exceeds that of a NG Fiber Optics Network, then yes......if not....the only choice would be partnering and they are welcome to offer alternatives to the market... Now go and read something about the topic before posting such nonsense
Bye bye FWA. The failure to execute with current Team is obvious. Fiber asset will be aquired.