SpaceX Is Laying Groundwork for a Nationwide Cell Network
The towers would support its orbiting internet system and newly obtained airwaves.
Bloomberg Daybreak: US Edition · Trump Seeks to Boost Iowa Republicans, Musk Midterm Giving Tops $445 MillionSpaceX has started early preparations for a countrywide mobile phone service, with a goal of using 80,000 or more tower and antenna locations around the United States.
The effort matters for ordinary phone users because it would give the rocket and satellite company a large presence on the ground to go with its service from space. Cell sites are the towers and rooftop antennas that phones connect to for calls, texts, and data.
People familiar with the matter told Bloomberg the company has discussed renting room with a large owner of towers. Tower owners control tall structures and lease space to phone companies, so such an arrangement would let SpaceX place its gear widely without building tens of thousands of towers itself.
The ground equipment would add to assets SpaceX already holds. Those include Starlink, its orbiting internet system, and radio airwaves for mobile calls and data picked up in recent transactions.
The next thing to watch is whether those tower discussions turn into signed access deals, and how quickly SpaceX moves to equip the sites.
Questions people ask
What exactly is a cell site?
A cell site is a place where equipment for mobile service is installed, usually a tall tower, a rooftop, or a utility pole. Your phone connects to the nearest site by radio, and that site passes your call or data into the wider network. Needing 80,000 of them signals a plan to cover much of the country.
Why would SpaceX need towers if it already has satellites?
Satellites can reach remote places, but ground towers handle heavy use in towns, cities, and suburbs with more capacity and steadier indoor coverage. A phone network that uses both can hand traffic between space and ground. That combination is why SpaceX would add towers even though it already has Starlink.
What is wireless spectrum?
Spectrum is the set of radio frequencies that carry wireless signals, and companies need rights to use specific bands to serve phones. Governments license it because only one user can transmit clearly on a frequency in a given place. Recently acquiring spectrum gives SpaceX the legal airwaves it needs to run a mobile service.