SpaceX may buy Boost for Starlink Mobile as T-Mobile and AT&T refuse network access

Elon Musk has reportedly been said no by AT&T, Verizon, and T-Mobile when SpaceX asked them to partner on the Starlink Mobile phone service rollout, so he went to Boost.

SpaceX is apparently now in talks to buy EchoStar's Boost Mobile virtual carrier, a divestment of the T-Mobile and Sprint merger, or at least get access to its network so it can launch Starlink Mobile. SpaceX first approached AT&T, T-Mobile, and Verizon about renting capacity on their networks for its upcoming 5G mobile service, but all three major US carriers turned it down. Not only that, but they are actively lobbying the FCC not to give SpaceX the possibility to acquire more spectrum for Starlink Mobile on interference and unfair competition grounds.

SpaceX may buy Boost Mobile

That left Elon Musk looking for another way in, and he reportedly sat down with EchoStar chairman Charlie Ergen last month to discuss Boost, which makes sense for SpaceX for many reasons. It is a mobile virtual network operator, or the so-called MVNO, so it doesn't own towers. It leases capacity from AT&T and T-Mobile instead, which is the kind of terrestrial coverage that SpaceX wants to provide Starlink Mobile service in big cities.

EchoStar also reported roughly 7.4 million wireless subscribers at the end of June, most of them on Boost Mobile and Gen Mobile. Buying the brand would give SpaceX an actual customer base from the get-go and a way to distribute its service. Network leases like Boost's, however, are usually nontransferable, so AT&T and T-Mobile might need to approve any deal. In other words, the carriers that already said no to SpaceX could get a second chance to say it again even if Elon buys Boost, though such a move might face some regulatory scrutiny.

SpaceX already holds EchoStar spectrum, including the roughly $17 billion AWS-4 and H-block DISH airwaves purchase agreed in 2025, and more recently an $8 billion deal for 800 MHz spectrum meant to improve indoor coverage. Starlink Mobile is pitched as a hybrid service that uses satellites outdoors and falls back on ground-based networks where the signal can't reach. While SpaceX has some plans to deploy femtocells on existing Starlink equipment like the Standard Kit that can be acquired directly on Amazon, they might not be enough for extensive coverage without some cell phone tower access.

Starlink Mobile 5G network

SpaceX’s satellite signal isn’t strong enough yet for indoor and urban coverage, which is where millions of phones are concentrated. Filling that gap on the ground means acquiring and permitting thousands of tower and small cell sites, supplying power and fiber backhaul to each one, and running a core network that handles authentication, billing, and handoffs between satellite and terrestrial coverage. Handsets also need to support the new bands, and densely populated cities are especially demanding since it is capacity rather than coverage that becomes the limit, and that means even more sites.

Verizon’s CEO said the buildout would take SpaceX four to six years. Musk countered with roughly half that, though his timelines have a habit of running optimistic. T-Mobile also scoffed at the Starlink Mobile's terrestrial network plans, saying that the satellite signal now can't even get through a car windshield, let alone penetrate buildings, and AT&T hasn't been kind to SpaceX's buildout prospects, either.

The report, however, says that the three big US carriers may be reluctant now, but as the Starlink Mobile project progresses, one of them may budge and try to outmaneuver the others by partnering with SpaceX to make it one of the top US carriers from the get-go.