Europe’s Top Carriers in Talks to Take on Starlink, Bloomberg Reports
Deutsche Telekom, Orange, Vodafone, and Telefónica are in early discussions to form a consortium and bid jointly for the EU’s reserved 2 GHz satellite spectrum, according to a Bloomberg report on Monday. This band is set to expire in May 2027.
These carriers already serve most of the mobile customers across the EU’s largest markets, making them strong contenders if they choose to bid as a single entity. The spectrum would enable them to offer calls, texts, and data directly to phones from orbit, competing with Starlink.
Bloomberg sources, requesting anonymity, revealed that no final decisions have been made regarding the consortium or bidding strategy. All four companies declined to comment on the matter. While TNW has not independently verified this report, it highlights a significant development in the European satellite spectrum landscape.
The 2 GHz mobile satellite services spectrum, comprising a 30 MHz pairing, is crucial as it allows handsets to maintain connections even in areas without traditional mast coverage. The current licenses held by Viasat and EchoStar since 2009 are set to expire soon.
The European Commission proposed on May 27th to conduct a single EU-level selection for the next licenses, dividing the band into three parts:
- One third for a company under majority European control.
- One third for sovereign government services delivered through IRIS², the EU’s constellation.
- The final third open to any provider, including SpaceX and Amazon.
This proposal awaits approval from the European Parliament and Council. The carriers are preparing for an auction whose rules remain undefined.
The allure of this spectrum lies in direct-to-device satellite services, a market dominated by Starlink. While SpaceX can already send texts, data, and calls to unmodified phones from orbit through partnerships with mobile operators like Deutsche Telekom, it cannot offer this service independently due to a lack of spectrum ownership in the EU.
By securing this European third of the band as a consortium, an operator would gain significant leverage over Starlink’s operations within their market. With four major carriers involved, they could collectively decide whether Starlink operates as a supplier or competitor across much of the continent.
However, an interesting twist is that two of these carriers already have American partners: Deutsche Telekom has a deal with SpaceX, and Vodafone owns half of a joint venture with AST SpaceMobile. These existing partnerships create an internal debate within the consortium idea regarding their relationship with American interests.