Elon Musk just dropped $17 billion on wireless spectrum and hinted Starlink could one day be your mobile carrier. He even teased buying Verizon. Yes, the man who sells rocket rides now wants to sell your phone plan.
Fresh off SpaceX’s $17B EchoStar spectrum shopping spree, Musk hopped on the All-In podcast to brag about turning Starlink satellites into “cell towers in space.” Translation? Your next phone signal might beam straight from orbit instead of a sketchy cell tower by the highway.
But don’t cancel AT&T yet — Musk admits the big three still own way more spectrum. Still, he smirked at the idea of simply buying Verizon to speed things up. When a billionaire grins, carriers sweat.
For now, Starlink’s working with T-Mobile to cover dead zones, with text messaging live and data apps like WhatsApp coming soon. The EchoStar deal? It’s Musk’s long play to give your phone cosmic-level bandwidth — once chipmakers catch up. Two years from now, your “bars” might literally come from the stars.
