US telecom stocks slide after SpaceX spectrum deal

Deutsche Telekom AG

09/10/2026 09:37

** US telecom stocks down premarket after SpaceX SPCX.O struck a deal to acquire a nationwide low-band spectrum license portfolio that will enable Starlink Mobile to become a major telecom operator in the US
** Shares of T-Mobile TMUS.O slip 6.3%, AT&T down 5.7%, Verizon VZ.N falls 5.1%
** SPCX will pay about $8 billion in cash for the assets to the seller, private-equity firm Grain Management, the Wall Street Journal reported, citing people familiar with the matter
** The firms have not disclosed financial terms of the agreement
** The deal raises the stakes for legacy carriers, transforming satellite direct-to-device connectivity from a supplementary safety feature for remote dead zones into a full-scale commercial rival capable of unseating terrestrial cellular networks
** "While the big 3 carriers (T, TMUS, VZ) are down on HSDs (high-speed data subscribers), presenting a more tangible competitive threat, this is not entirely unexpected and is likely rural first" - Morgan Stanley
** YTD, TMUS down 15.6%, VZ gained 13.7% while T is marginally up
** European telecom shares also take a hit, including Germany's Deutsche Telekom DTEGn.DE

 (Reporting by Joel Jose in Bengaluru)
 ((joeljose@thomsonreuters.com))