Musk goes to war with US phone carriers and eyes Boost Mobile

SpaceX is in talks with EchoStar to either buy its Boost Mobile carrier or get access to its network, according to a US press report on Monday citing people familiar with the discussions. Musk is said to be handling it personally and met EchoStar chairman Charlie Ergen last month. Neither company responded to requests for comment.

The motive is easy to read. In recent months Musk approached the heads of America's biggest carriers, Verizon among them, asking them to let SpaceX onto their networks so it could launch its own phone service. That went nowhere. Boost Mobile looks like a side door: it has no towers of its own and leases capacity from AT&T and T-Mobile. That is also the catch. Such leases usually can't be handed to another company without the network owner's consent, so AT&T and T-Mobile may have to sign off on a deal that arms a future rival.

SpaceX isn't hiding the goal. Its Starlink Mobile plan would combine satellites with ground equipment to take on AT&T, Verizon and T-Mobile directly. On the latest earnings call, CFO Bret Johnsen said the company wants to become a major US mobile carrier. The spectrum is being lined up: in October SpaceX agreed to buy low-band spectrum from Grain Management for about $8 billion, and in September 2025 it paid roughly $17 billion in cash and stock for EchoStar's AWS-4 and H-block licences. It is also hunting for cell sites across the country to host its gear.

MoffettNathanson puts the US wireless market at $235 billion. EchoStar shares rose about 4% before the market opened.

Musk already has the satellites and keeps buying spectrum. The one thing missing is the SIM card in your phone, and that seems to be what he is shopping for now.