Elon Musk is accelerating plans to build a fourth major nationwide wireless carrier, with SpaceX seeking access to at least 80,000 US cell sites, according to Bloomberg News. The prospect of a new rival to AT&T, Verizon, and T-Mobile lifted tower stocks in premarket trading, while shares of those legacy carriers fell as traders continued to assess that new emerging competitive threat.
The report stated that SpaceX is in talks with a number of tower companies, including Crown Castle, which, along with American Tower Corp. and Vertical Bridge Holdings, is among the largest owners of cellular towers.
"You can assume that we're talking to all parties," Crown Castle CEO Chris Hillabrant said Wednesday when asked about discussions with SpaceX, Amazon and other satellite telecommunications providers.
Crown Castle shares jumped as much as 10% in late trading following the report, while AT&T, Verizon, and T-Mobile each fell about 5%.
The report follows news earlier this month that SpaceX acquired low-band spectrum and received Federal Communications Commission approval to launch 15,000 satellites designed to connect directly to smartphones.
This is the last critical piece of the spectrum puzzle needed for SpaceX to provide complete phone coverage in America
— Elon Musk (@elonmus
