AT&T, T-Mobile and Verizon have entered into a joint venture agreement to pool spectrum for satellite direct-to-device coverage, naming former AT&T and Cingular Wireless executive Paul Roth interim CEO. The venture now has a board, a mission and a leader. What it doesn’t have is a name, a launch date or a public accounting of the spectrum going into it. For the tower industry, the most telling line in the carriers’ release may be the one insisting that terrestrial networks remain the main event.
The three carriers made the announcement Oct. 1 in matching releases datelined Dallas, Bellevue, Wash., and New York. It follows the agreement in principle they disclosed May 14, when they said they would “pool limited spectrum resources” to help eliminate coverage dead zones and expand satellite coverage. That May announcement was subject to definitive agreements and customary closing conditions. The October release says the companies “have entered into a joint venture agreement.” It does not address regulatory approvals.
Roth, described in the release as “a seasoned wireless industry executive,” previously held leadership roles at AT&T, Cingular Wireless and Ameritech. He will serve while the partners search for a permanent CEO. A board with representatives from each of the three founding members will manage the venture.
What the carriers are promising
The release makes one sweeping claim: the venture “will nearly eliminate dead zones in the U.S. currently without mobile service.” It also promises redundant connectivity when natural disasters knock out ground networks, more consistent access to satellite services across providers, and common technical specifications across the industry. As a first step, it says, direct-to-device access will improve.
On the industry side, the carriers say more satellite providers will gain opportunities to compete, and that the venture will work with rural mobile network operators to help them bring new products to market. The release describes the arrangement as a “technology-neutral innovation platform” and says it will improve use of “valuable and scarce nationally licensed spectrum resources.”
It also leaves existing deals untouched: “Existing carrier-satellite agreements will remain in place, and the JV partners can continue connectivity efforts independently.” T-Mobile’s T-Satellite service runs on SpaceX’s Starlink. AT&T and Verizon have both partnered with and invested in AST SpaceMobile, and Verizon also works with Skylo.
The release does not say how much spectrum each carrier is contributing, which bands are involved, how ownership is divided, or when customers will see service. None of the three carriers’ October releases includes a quote from an executive.
The SpaceX question
The announcement landed two days after AT&T Chairman and CEO John Stankey dismissed SpaceX’s plan to build a full mobile service around Starlink. In an interview with Axios on Sept. 29, Stankey called it “not a viable strategy.”
His sharpest point targeted SpaceX’s proposal to install cellular base stations at homes and businesses, using Starlink terminals for backhaul. “It would cost as much to do that as it would to build a macro network,” Stankey said. He also raised a legal obstacle: “You can’t radiate cellular signals from somebody’s house without their permission.”
SpaceX sees it differently. President Gwynne Shotwell said in August that the company will build the infrastructure needed to make Starlink “a true mobile service” and expects to win “quite a few” customers from the three national carriers, Reuters reported. SpaceX acquired 65 megahertz of spectrum from EchoStar for $19.6 billion in deals announced last year, Reuters reported.
Against that backdrop, a venture that pools the carriers’ satellite spectrum, sets common specifications and opens the door to multiple satellite operators keeps the carriers in control of how satellites plug into their networks.
What it means for towers
The carriers went out of their way to frame satellite as a supplement. “Terrestrial mobile networks will continue to deliver the high-quality experience customers expect every day,” the release says. The venture targets areas “where traditional cell service is a challenge.”
Read plainly, that is a statement about where towers haven’t been built, not where they will be taken down. The release’s own target is areas “currently without mobile service.” Satellite coverage there doesn’t take tenants off a tower, because there was never a tower to lease.
The longer-term question is marginal. If a shared satellite layer can deliver messaging, emergency connectivity and eventually basic data in rural gaps, some marginal rural builds could slip down carriers’ priority lists. The carriers haven’t said that, and nothing in the release suggests it. But tower owners and rural contractors will want to watch how the venture describes its footprint once service details emerge.
For now, the venture has an interim CEO, a board and a list of benefits. The spectrum, the satellites and the launch date are still to come.
