AT&T, Verizon, T-Mobile fall 4%-5% on report of SpaceX tower push

The scale: 80,000 sites would equal about half of the 158,500 purpose-built cell towers operating in the U.S. last year, according to Wireless Infrastructure Association figures cited by Reuters. Crown Castle runs about 40,000 U.S. towers, American Tower about 42,000 U.S. sites and privately held Vertical Bridge about 18,000. Asked Wednesday about possible leases with SpaceX and Amazon, Crown Castle CEO Christian Hillabrant said the company was talking to "all parties" but declined to name customers, Reuters reported.

What SpaceX has said on the record: On its third-quarter earnings call this week, SpaceX President Gwynne Shotwell said its S-band airwaves would likely carry most traffic, while newly bought 800 MHz low-band spectrum is needed to penetrate buildings, Fierce Network reported. She said SpaceX would "leverage the real estate from Starlink installs and other towers." Starlink Mobile, which today connects phones by satellite, passed 22 million monthly users, up 37% from the prior quarter, Fierce reported.

The cost question: TD Cowen estimated a nationwide ground network would cost more than $80 billion and take many years, Reuters reported. That price tag, and the years it would take, is the main reason the threat to the big three is a long-term one rather than an immediate one.

Timeline of SpaceX's push into U.S. wireless: In May 2026 the FCC approved SpaceX's $17 billion purchase of 65 MHz of mid-band spectrum from EchoStar, Ars Technica reported. The FCC has also approved up to 15,000 next-generation SpaceX satellites. Meanwhile AT&T, Verizon and T-Mobile formed their own satellite joint venture without Starlink. On Oct. 8 SpaceX agreed to buy up to 14 MHz of 800 MHz spectrum from Grain Management, pending FCC approval, saying it would "pave the way for Starlink Mobile to become a major mobile carrier in the US." This week executives laid out the plan to use rooftop installs and towers on the earnings call. On Oct. 22 came the report of talks for 80,000 sites.

What's still unknown: SpaceX has not announced prices, plans or a launch date for a full phone service using towers, and no tower lease has been confirmed. The 800 MHz purchase still needs FCC approval, and the Rural Wireless Association has opposed earlier spectrum deals as concentrating airwaves, Ars Technica reported. SpaceX previously told Canadian regulators that service from its next-generation phone satellites would begin by late 2027.

The report of SpaceX's tower talks comes from Bloomberg News citing people familiar with the matter, as relayed by Reuters; SpaceX, Crown Castle, American Tower and Vertical Bridge did not immediately comment, and no deal has been announced. After-hours stock moves are as of early Thursday evening and can change by Friday's open. The hero photo shows a Crown Castle cell site in Frisco, Texas, in August 2026 (file photo); it is not tied to any SpaceX deal.