--- title: SpaceX seeks 80,000 US cell sites for a mobile network,... description: SpaceX is seeking access to at least 80,000 US cell sites to build a terrestrial mobile network, Bloomberg reports, citing talks with tower owner Crown Castle.... canonical: https://daily.dev/posts/spacex-seeks-80-000-us-cell-sites-for-a-mobile-network-bloomberg-reports-y4vh28x6a twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:site: @dailydotdev og:type: website og:site_name: daily.dev og:title: SpaceX seeks 80,000 US cell sites for a mobile network, Bloomberg reports | daily.dev og:description: SpaceX is seeking access to at least 80,000 US cell sites to build a terrestrial mobile network, Bloomberg reports, citing talks with tower owner Crown Castle.... og:url: https://daily.dev/posts/spacex-seeks-80-000-us-cell-sites-for-a-mobile-network-bloomberg-reports-y4vh28x6a og:image: https://api.daily.dev/og/posts/y4Vh28x6A.png og:image:alt: SpaceX seeks 80,000 US cell sites for a mobile network, Bloomberg reports og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 630 og:locale: en --- > ## Documentation Index > Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://daily.dev/llms.txt > Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further. # SpaceX seeks 80,000 US cell sites for a mobile network, Bloomberg reports **[The Next Web](https://daily.dev/sources/tnw)** · 4 min read · 0 upvotes · 0 comments ## Summary SpaceX is seeking access to at least 80,000 US cell sites to build a terrestrial mobile network, Bloomberg reports, citing talks with tower owner Crown Castle. The deals could be worth billions and would position SpaceX as a fourth nationwide carrier after AT&T, Verizon and T-Mobile. The target equals half of the 158,500 purpose-built cell towers in use in the US last year. TD Cowen estimates a nationwide ground network would cost over $80bn and take years. Crown Castle shares rose as much as 10% on the news, while AT&T, Verizon and T-Mobile shares fell 4.2% to 5%. Industry analyst Ken Schmidt doubts SpaceX needs that many sites, and says it seems like a way to pressure the big three into an MVNO deal. ## Full article daily.dev links to this article rather than hosting it. Read it at the original source: ## Questions this post answers ### How many US cell sites is SpaceX reportedly seeking for its mobile network? SpaceX is reportedly seeking access to at least 80,000 US cell sites, according to Bloomberg, which cited people familiar with talks between SpaceX and tower owner Crown Castle. That figure equals half of the 158,500 purpose-built cell towers in use in the US, and is close to what each of the major carriers already leases: T-Mobile around 82,000, AT&T 75,000, and Verizon 65,000. _Anyone tracking telecom and satellite infrastructure shifts can follow network buildout stories like this on daily.dev._ ### Why does an analyst doubt SpaceX really needs 80,000 cell sites? Ken Schmidt of Steel In The Air questioned the number, arguing that even in the most optimistic scenario a ground network would need fewer sites than any single major carrier, around 75,000. He suggested the request could be a pressure tactic to push one of the big three carriers into signing a resale (MVNO) deal with SpaceX rather than a genuine buildout requirement. _Developers weighing claims in telecom news can track expert pushback like this on daily.dev._ ### What spectrum has SpaceX recently acquired for its mobile network plans? SpaceX agreed to buy nationwide low-band 800 MHz spectrum, a deal Crown Castle CEO Chris Hillabrant called a 'huge milestone.' Low-band signals travel further and penetrate buildings better than higher frequencies, making them useful for wide-area terrestrial coverage as part of SpaceX's plan to build out ground networks alongside its direct-to-phone satellite service. _Those following satellite-to-phone and spectrum deals can keep up with the space on daily.dev._ ## Similar posts on daily.dev - [Starlink wants to be your next mobile operator](https://daily.dev/posts/starlink-wants-to-be-your-next-mobile-operator-lrwzemhn6) · TechCentral · 0 upvotes · 0 comments - [SpaceX wants to sell Starlink phone service directly to US consumers](https://daily.dev/posts/spacex-wants-to-sell-starlink-phone-service-directly-to-us-consumers-2ts1lcm87) · The Next Web · 0 upvotes · 1 comments - [Starlink lines up a frontal assault on mobile operators](https://daily.dev/posts/starlink-lines-up-a-frontal-assault-on-mobile-operators-cj0ofkema) · TechCentral · 0 upvotes · 0 comments --- Tags: [#spacex](https://daily.dev/tags/spacex) [View this post on daily.dev](https://daily.dev/posts/spacex-seeks-80-000-us-cell-sites-for-a-mobile-network-bloomberg-reports-y4vh28x6a) ```json {"@context":"https://schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https://daily.dev/#organization","name":"daily.dev","url":"https://daily.dev","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://daily.dev/apple-touch-icon.png","width":180,"height":180},"sameAs":["https://twitter.com/dailydotdev","https://github.com/dailydotdev","https://www.linkedin.com/company/daily-dev-ltd"]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https://daily.dev/#website","url":"https://daily.dev","name":"daily.dev","publisher":{"@id":"https://daily.dev/#organization"},"potentialAction":{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https://daily.dev/search?q={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}}]} {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"TechArticle","headline":"SpaceX seeks 80,000 US cell sites for a mobile network, Bloomberg reports","url":"https://daily.dev/posts/spacex-seeks-80-000-us-cell-sites-for-a-mobile-network-bloomberg-reports-y4vh28x6a","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://daily.dev/posts/spacex-seeks-80-000-us-cell-sites-for-a-mobile-network-bloomberg-reports-y4vh28x6a"},"datePublished":"2026-10-26T09:48:01.450Z","dateModified":"2026-10-26T10:08:53.818Z","description":"SpaceX is seeking access to at least 80,000 US cell sites to build a terrestrial mobile network, Bloomberg reports, citing talks with tower owner Crown Castle....","image":"https://media.daily.dev/image/upload/f_auto,q_auto/v1/posts/db278deff75b667f1376dbb6c96fc208?_a=AQAEuop","thumbnailUrl":"https://media.daily.dev/image/upload/f_auto,q_auto/v1/posts/db278deff75b667f1376dbb6c96fc208?_a=AQAEuop","isAccessibleForFree":true,"articleSection":"The Next Web","inLanguage":"en","publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"daily.dev","url":"https://daily.dev","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://daily.dev/apple-touch-icon.png","width":180,"height":180}},"author":{"@type":"Organization","name":"The Next Web","logo":"https://media.daily.dev/image/upload/t_logo,f_auto/v1/logos/tnw","url":"https://daily.dev/sources/tnw"},"commentCount":0,"discussionUrl":"https://daily.dev/posts/spacex-seeks-80-000-us-cell-sites-for-a-mobile-network-bloomberg-reports-y4vh28x6a","interactionStatistic":[{"@type":"InteractionCounter","interactionType":{"@type":"LikeAction"},"userInteractionCount":0},{"@type":"InteractionCounter","interactionType":{"@type":"CommentAction"},"userInteractionCount":0}],"keywords":"spacex","timeRequired":"PT4M"} {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https://daily.dev"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"The Next Web","item":"https://daily.dev/sources/tnw"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"SpaceX seeks 80,000 US cell sites for a mobile network, Bloomberg reports"}]} {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"FAQPage","@id":"https://daily.dev/posts/spacex-seeks-80-000-us-cell-sites-for-a-mobile-network-bloomberg-reports-y4vh28x6a#faq","mainEntity":[{"@type":"Question","name":"How many US cell sites is SpaceX reportedly seeking for its mobile network?","acceptedAnswer":{"@type":"Answer","text":"SpaceX is reportedly seeking access to at least 80,000 US cell sites, according to Bloomberg, which cited people familiar with talks between SpaceX and tower owner Crown Castle. That figure equals half of the 158,500 purpose-built cell towers in use in the US, and is close to what each of the major carriers already leases: T-Mobile around 82,000, AT\u0026T 75,000, and Verizon 65,000. Anyone tracking telecom and satellite infrastructure shifts can follow network buildout stories like this on daily.dev."}},{"@type":"Question","name":"Why does an analyst doubt SpaceX really needs 80,000 cell sites?","acceptedAnswer":{"@type":"Answer","text":"Ken Schmidt of Steel In The Air questioned the number, arguing that even in the most optimistic scenario a ground network would need fewer sites than any single major carrier, around 75,000. He suggested the request could be a pressure tactic to push one of the big three carriers into signing a resale (MVNO) deal with SpaceX rather than a genuine buildout requirement. Developers weighing claims in telecom news can track expert pushback like this on daily.dev."}},{"@type":"Question","name":"What spectrum has SpaceX recently acquired for its mobile network plans?","acceptedAnswer":{"@type":"Answer","text":"SpaceX agreed to buy nationwide low-band 800 MHz spectrum, a deal Crown Castle CEO Chris Hillabrant called a 'huge milestone.' Low-band signals travel further and penetrate buildings better than higher frequencies, making them useful for wide-area terrestrial coverage as part of SpaceX's plan to build out ground networks alongside its direct-to-phone satellite service. Those following satellite-to-phone and spectrum deals can keep up with the space on daily.dev."}}]} ```