On October 22, 2026, Bloomberg reported SpaceX is in talks with Crown Castle and other tower owners for at least 80,000 cell towers, later narrowed to lease talks covering at least 80,000 US cell sites. In the session, AT&T and T-Mobile fell 7.5% and Verizon 1.5%, while American Tower rose 4.5% and Crown Castle 9.5%. SpaceX told MoffettNathanson that buying a carrier is not attractive, and a SpaceX bid in next year's Upper C-Band auction could raise spectrum prices. The discussion has since moved to whether the leases amount to building a fourth US carrier, Starlink Mobile. No carrier or tower owner has confirmed terms, and it is not established whether the sites are leased, acquired or both.