- At MWC 2026, SpaceX debuted Starlink Mobile, sparking disruption talk
- AT&T, T-Mobile and others say satellites can’t match terrestrial capacity or indoor coverage
- Bottom line: For now, satellite is a rural complement – not a mobile network killer
MOBILE WORLD CONGRESS 2026, BARCELONA — SpaceX made a splash here with the big unveil of Starlink Mobile, triggering renewed speculation about what Elon Musk really plans to do to shake up the decades-old terrestrial wireless industry.
Will he build his own hybrid satellite-terrestrial network to rule the world? Will he strike an MVNO deal with one or more existing mobile network operators to sell a Starlink Mobile-branded phone/broadband service to the masses? Or will he do something else entirely that no one on this planet could ever predict?
Maybe none or all of the above. But given the number of times we’ve heard people warn that doomsday is coming for mobile operators because Musk is the Grim Reaper knocking on their door, we decided to ask some folks on the ground here if it’s likely or even possible that satellites will replace terrestrial carriers. Or something like that.
We heard a common thread throughout and it’s not going to come as any surprise to anyone who’s been in the industry for a few “Gs.” Remember when you had to stand next to a window to make a voice call from inside a building? Yeah, those were the days.
What does Ulf Ewaldsson think?
First up, we ran into Ulf Ewaldsson at Nokia’s event on Sunday. He exited as president of Technology at T-Mobile last year, shortly before newly installed CEO Srini Gopalan took over. Ewaldsson is currently working as an advisor to several firms.
“Connectivity through satellite to mobile phones or mobile devices cannot [replace terrestrial] because of the indoor coverage issue and because of the limited capacity of the satellite network," he said. “Even with thousands and thousands and thousands of satellites up there, you can't replicate the capacity that's in the terrestrial. That's why it's today a complement.”
The next day, SpaceX President and COO Gwen Shotwell and Starlink SVP Michael Nichols took to the keynote stage to provide an update on all the satellites they’ve already launched and announce what’s coming for Starlink Mobile. The plan is to deliver 5G speeds to mobile phones all over the world.
What does Gordon Mansfield of AT&T think?
So when we had a chance to catch up with Gordon Mansfield, VP of Global Technology Planning and Engineering at AT&T, we straight up asked if SpaceX is on the cusp of taking over the mobile space.
“You can never say never when Elon Musk is involved. The guy's got deep pockets. Who knows what he's going to do?,” Mansfield replied.
Looking at the assets of today, he said Musk has the capacity to serve rural areas and even extremely remote areas where few people congregate in large groups. There aren’t a lot of buildings to block signals in those kinds of places, which are also where wireless carriers are not going to build because the economics don’t pencil out.
But dense suburban and urban areas are another thing, and that’s where spectral efficiency isn’t great for satellites. “It'll improve over time, but right now, if you look at their spectrum efficiency, it's significantly worse than what a terrestrial system’s spectral efficiency is,” he said.
Even terrestrial networks with towers close to buildings have a tough time penetrating inside buildings, some of which are made of brick or have windows with Low E glass that radio signals can’t easily pass through.
Some other possible scenarios
It’s feasible Musk could form an MVNO relationship with a carrier and put some of the traffic on the terrestrial network and some on Starlink’s own network. “That’s possible, but competing just with his satellites, he’s not able to get into the building with a satellite and he doesn’t have enough spectrum,” Mansfield said.
Understood. But could he (or someone he hires) be smart enough to break physics or design around them?
If it were an algorithmic issue, that’s one thing, but bending the laws of physics – that’s another. “It’s just not practical. It’s physics,” he said.
What does Woojune Kim from Samsung Electronics think?
That was pretty much the response we got from Woojune Kim, president and global head of Networks Business at Samsung Electronics, when we asked about the possibility of inventing something that gets satellite technology to somehow weave or bend its way inside buildings.
“It’s just physics, right? I think it's difficult. Our current technology does not allow it for the foreseeable future,” Kim said.
Undeterred, we carried on. Perhaps somebody somewhere would say, sure, Musk is so bright and the wireless industry is so dim, he’s sure to pull the plug on this whole wireless business.
T-Mobile's EVP Ankur Kapoor said ....
T-Mobile EVP and Chief Network Officer Ankur Kapoor said satellite has a role to play and that’s to cover the 400,000 to 500,000 square miles of the United States where it’s never going to be profitable for carriers to build sites because not a lot of people live there.
That’s why the T-Satellite service, which T-Mobile offers thanks to its deal with Starlink, is very complementary to terrestrial wireless service. From the beginning of that service, T-Mobile has made a point to say that people need a clear connection to the sky for the service to work.
Kapoor echoed others, saying satellite service can never be a replacement for a terrestrial network, both from capacity and coverage perspective.
Even with cell sites close to buildings on the ground, wireless carriers have challenges getting coverage inside buildings. “That’s where this entire DAS concept comes. It’s because you can’t cover things like airports,” he said.
T-Mobile has about 28 different cell sites covering a structure like JFK airport in New York, for example. “I think satellite is never going to be, unfortunately, an answer to that,” he said.
Could that change someday? “Maybe, but am I ever going to bet a penny on that? Probably not, just because it’s super difficult,” he said.
Shaun McCarthy from Spectrum Effect had this to say
We found Shaun McCarthy, president of Spectrum Effect and a former president of Nokia North America, in the depths of Hall 7.
He said the whole non-terrestrial network (NTN) space is exciting.
But he doesn’t see how it makes economic sense for someone like Musk to try to take over servicing 300 million wireless subscribers in the U.S. and all the regulatory, pricing and other hassles that go with it.
“The economic and the business case to me sounds like a question,” McCarthy said. “I think it’s going to be collaborative. We’ll see. I think that’s my answer. We’ll see.”
Read all of our coverage from Mobile World Congress 2026 in Barcelona here.