TAMPA, Fla. — A planned direct-to-device (D2D) joint venture between AT&T, T-Mobile and Verizon has divided operators behind the satellites needed to connect ordinary smartphones from space.
The three largest carriers in the United States said May 14 they had agreed in principle to pool spectrum resources to improve D2D services, including standardizing their approach to help rural mobile network operators reduce coverage gaps.
“By joining with other carriers, we’re bringing our combined expertise to accelerate our customers’ access to reliable, and always-on coverage everywhere,” AT&T chairman and CEO John Stankey said in a news release that was light on details amid ongoing negotiations.
AST SpaceMobile, which counts AT&T and Verizon as anchor partners for the D2D services it aims to provide this year after deploying more satellites, welcomed the move.
“AST SpaceMobile is happy to see how the industry is preparing to enable space-based cellular broadband connectivity to every American,” AST SpaceMobile chairman and CEO Abel Avellan said in a statement.
“We plan to be a key enabler of this transformation as we continue to grow our global network in low Earth orbit and expand available spectrum to our network.”
SpaceX, which has been providing Starlink Mobile services in the United States since 2025 in partnership with T-Mobile, was skeptical.
“Weeeelllll, I guess @Starlink Mobile is doing something right! It’s David and Goliath (X3) all over again — I’m bettin’ on David :),” SpaceX president and chief operating officer Gwynne Shotwell said on X.
“I’d take that bet,” SpaceX vice president of satellite policy David Goldman said in reply, pointing to an article from research firm Lightshed Partners that questioned whether regulators would block the tie-up over collusion concerns.
The telcos did not respond to requests for comment.
OQ Technology, a Luxembourg-based satellite operator that plans to ramp up D2D tests this year, welcomed the proposed JV.
“The fact that the U.S. carriers are now aligned around satellite-enabled D2D connectivity underscores how important this market has become,” OQ Technology CEO Omar Qaise said via email.
“Carrier collaboration is an important step,” he added, pointing to its C-band D2D demonstration later this year as part of efforts to support telcos across multiple spectrum bands.
“We’re excited to support this joint venture and help deliver ubiquitous connectivity for our partners and customers,” he continued.
“This is also becoming geopolitically important. The U.S. ecosystem is rapidly moving with strong coordination between operators, satellite players, and government priorities.”
But while he said initiatives such as Europe’s proposed IRIS² sovereign broadband network are a step forward, the region “needs a sovereign D2D constellation in the near term.”
Meanwhile, analysts have stressed how preliminary the JV is, with operating details, financial structure and partner ecosystem yet to be determined.
“Our understanding is that the JV will act as a [D2D] intermediary,” NewStreet Research analysts said in a report, “buying capacity on a wholesale basis to resell to the individual carriers.”
Given that each carrier’s existing satellite agreements are not changing, they said the announcement “suggests that none believe that they have the ultimate solution (or they believe that by combining forces they can create a better mutual solution).”
Raymond James analysts agreed that the JV is more likely to operate as a “marketing agent” linking carriers with smaller wireless and satellite providers, rather than holding licenses itself.
“We believe the existing agreements and technology combinations for D2D have been less effective for customers, with disappointing uptake/usage as a result,” the analysts wrote.
“The JV should help customers actually get service in dead zones where there could be incremental demand in the future by combining the best of all these worlds and technologies, while addressing the obvious challenges of servicing these hard to reach and high-cost areas.”
It is also a way for carriers to potentially remain in the driver’s seat for D2D as the market develops, Raymond James analysts added, though demand for these services and the economics of providing them remain unclear.