European telecom shares fall after SpaceX spectrum deal

Orange SA

09/10/2026 09:03

** Shares in European telecom service providers fall 3-7% after SpaceX SPCX.O on Thursday announced an agreement to acquire a nationwide low-band spectrum license portfolio that will enable Starlink Mobile to become a major telecom operator in the US
** Germany's Deutsche Telekom DTEGn.DE, which holds a 54% stake in T-Mobile US TMUS.O, is down 7% and on track for its worst day since June 2023
** "Negative read across for Telekom as competition in USA intensifies," a local trader says
** SpaceX's purchase could allow it to offer mobile phone connections directly from space to smartphones in future
** "SpaceX’s US spectrum purchase today makes the hybrid-network threat more credible, but dense-market capacity and deployment economics remain unproven," Scotiabank notes
** Spain's Telefonica TEF.MC, French provider Orange SA ORAN.PA and British Vodafone VOD.L are down around 3%
** Europe's STOXX 600 Telecommunications index .SXKP is down 2.8%

(Reporting by Danny Callaghan and Gemma Gausch)
((danny.callaghan@thomsonreuters.com))