SpaceX is in talks with cellular infrastructure companies to secure access to at least 80,000 sites across the United States, Bloomberg News reported this week, in a move that could clear the way for Starlink Mobile to become a fourth nationwide wireless carrier.
The report, based on people familiar with the matter, names Crown Castle among the tower owners in discussions. American Tower has also been reported as part of the talks. No tower deals have been announced, and the companies involved have not confirmed specific negotiations.
Why 80,000 sites matters
The scale of the reported target is what makes the story significant. The Wireless Infrastructure Association counted 158,500 purpose-built cell towers operating in the U.S. last year, according to the Bloomberg report as carried by Reuters. On that basis, 80,000 sites would equal roughly half of the country’s purpose-built towers.
Crown Castle operates about 40,000 U.S. cell towers, while American Tower has about 42,000 U.S. sites and privately held Vertical Bridge owns around 18,000, the report said. Securing space on tens of thousands of those towers would give SpaceX the ground-based footprint a terrestrial wireless network needs, particularly in dense areas where satellites alone cannot deliver robust service.
The spectrum behind the strategy
The tower talks follow SpaceX’s move into terrestrial spectrum. In October, SpaceX agreed to acquire a nationwide portfolio of 800 MHz spectrum licenses from Grain Management for $8 billion, a deal investors read as a step toward a ground-based network.
SpaceX chief executive Elon Musk had already confirmed plans for a land-based network to work alongside Starlink’s satellites, on the company’s earnings call this week, according to reports of the call. The company has also received U.S. authorization related to satellites capable of offering direct cellular connections, but a full terrestrial carrier would still require towers, radios and years of construction.
TD Cowen estimated that building a nationwide terrestrial network would cost more than $80 billion and require many years and billions in additional spending, the report said.
What the tower owners are saying
Crown Castle chief executive Christian Hillabrant said on Wednesday that the company was talking to all parties when asked about potential leases with SpaceX and Amazon, but declined to discuss specific customers. Crown Castle, American Tower, Vertical Bridge and SpaceX did not immediately respond to Reuters’ requests for comment on the reported talks.
The market reaction was immediate. Shares of wireless carriers AT&T, Verizon and T-Mobile fell between 4.2 percent and 5 percent in extended trading after the report, while tower stocks rose, with Crown Castle shares climbing sharply on Friday.
What is confirmed — and what is not
It is important to be clear about the status of this story. What is reported is that talks are under way. What is not confirmed is any signed lease, any price, or any launch date for a fourth carrier. Building a nationwide network is a multi-year, multi-billion-dollar undertaking, and analysts caution that deployment timelines and profitability remain key tests before anticipated tower demand fully materializes.
If the talks do lead to deals, however, they would mark one of the largest shifts in the U.S. wireless market in years: a satellite company becoming a ground-based carrier, using other companies’ towers to reach customers its satellites cannot serve alone.
Sources: Bloomberg News report on SpaceX cell-site talks (October 22, 2026), as reported by Reuters; Yahoo Finance and Forbes reporting on the tower talks (October 23, 2026); SpaceX–Grain Management 800 MHz spectrum agreement reporting (October 2026).
