Europe’s four largest mobile operators — Deutsche Telekom of Germany, France’s Orange, Spain’s Telefónica and UK-headquartered Vodafone — have signed a letter of intent to explore a joint bid for future Mobile Satellite Services spectrum in Europe: the band that lets an ordinary phone reach a satellite with no dish and no new hardware. The commitment was announced on 19 October in a Telefónica statement matched by the other three carriers, and picked up by Tesla North.
Key facts
- The four carriers signed a letter of intent to explore a potential joint bid and to push Direct-to-Device service on ordinary phones.
- They say they will not buy a constellation of their own, and no satellite partner has been chosen.
- The target is the 2 GHz mobile satellite services band. Current licences expire in May 2027 — a date that traces back to Bloomberg and has not been independently confirmed by the outlets carrying it.
- The European Commission proposed on 27 May to run a single EU-level selection for the next licences and to split the band in three.
- That proposal still has to clear the European Parliament and the Council.
- Nothing in the letter names Starlink or SpaceX, and no licence has been awarded.
Why it matters
Direct-to-device is the one satellite internet service that reaches a mass market without new hardware, and Starlink dominates it, per thenextweb.com. SpaceX can already send texts, data and calls to unmodified phones from orbit and sells that capability through mobile operators, but it cannot offer the service on its own in the EU because it does not hold the spectrum. That is the leverage on the table: whoever holds the European third of the band decides whether Starlink is a supplier or a competitor in its market.
What the carriers committed to
The statement frames the plan as European sovereignty and network resilience. Under it, every mobile operator would get open, non-discriminatory access to offer satellite-to-phone service, market fragmentation would be cut, and ground network equipment plus coordination and monitoring functions would sit in Europe.
The letter also says the bid does not replace existing satellite partnerships — wording that matters, as Tesla North’s write-up points out, because Deutsche Telekom already has a planned Starlink satellite-to-mobile deal aimed at 2028, and Starlink Mobile is already expanding in Europe through carrier deals.
From early talks to a signed letter
The consortium story began in September, when Bloomberg reported that the same four companies were in early talks, with no decision taken on forming a consortium or on bidding; spokespeople for all four declined to comment, the Irish Examiner noted. That original report has never been independently verified by the outlets that relayed it — thenextweb.com said so explicitly — so the details below that originate with Bloomberg, rather than with the carriers’ own statement, should be read as single-sourced.
The spectrum on the table
The 2 GHz mobile satellite services band is a 30 MHz pairing that lets a handset keep a connection where no mast reaches. The Commission’s proposed split: one third to a company under majority European control, one third to sovereign government services delivered through IRIS², the EU’s own constellation, and the final third open to anyone, SpaceX and Amazon included. SiliconRepublic describes the same package more simply — one third for government use, two thirds for commercial direct-to-device.
SpaceX has pushed back. In June it warned that the proposal creates a “significant likelihood that Europeans will be left without direct-to-device satellite services”, and flagged global interference risks including to emergency services such as those in Ukraine, SiliconRepublic reported. Separately, Washington has warned Brussels against curbing Starlink.
Two carriers already have American partners
Deutsche Telekom has an agreement with SpaceX to offer Starlink’s direct-to-device service in the EU. Vodafone owns half of SatCo, a joint venture with AST SpaceMobile, the US company building a space-based cellular network; SiliconRepublic says SatCo was announced last year to serve European mobile operators exclusively. On Bloomberg’s reading of the draft rules — again, single-sourced — that 50/50 structure would not count as European-controlled, and Vodafone would have to restructure it to bid.
Spectrum without a satellite internet network
Reserving spectrum for a European operator does not create a European constellation, which leaves the bloc with a European rival with no satellites of its own. IRIS² will not enter service until 2029, will start with broadband rather than phones, and its direct-to-mobile capability is limited and routed through Hispasat, per thenextweb.com and the Irish Examiner.
The home-grown alternatives are thin: Spain’s Sateliot is seeking €150m to beam 5G to phones, and Eutelsat, the largest European operator, is still waiting for growth to return in 2027. The scale sits outside Europe entirely — Amazon, a US company and no part of any European bid, has asked the Federal Communications Commission for 5,105 satellites dedicated to phones.
The underlying demand is also narrow by design: terrestrial networks already cover the vast majority of populated Europe, the Irish Examiner notes, with the EU pursuing satellite coverage mainly as SpaceX expands its direct-to-consumer business.
Frequently Asked Questions
Who holds the 2 GHz satellite licences now, and when do they run out?
The current licences sit with Viasat and EchoStar, the two US satellite operators, and expire in May 2027 — a date thenextweb.com attributes to Bloomberg. The sources differ on when they were first issued: thenextweb.com says 2009, SiliconRepublic says 2008. Neither is obviously wrong, and the gap most likely reflects the two-stage nature of EU spectrum awards, where a Commission selection decision in one year is followed by national authorisations in the next; what matters for the bid — the 2027 expiry — is not in dispute.
What is IRIS², and who is building it?
IRIS² is the EU’s own satellite constellation, built by a consortium led by SES SA, Eutelsat Communications SACA and Hispasat, according to the Irish Examiner. thenextweb.com says it moved from plan to full deployment in August, with 348 satellites and a bill above €15bn.
Have the four carriers worked together before?
Yes, but on something unrelated. SiliconRepublic reports that Deutsche Telekom, Orange, Telefónica and Vodafone formed an equal-partnership ad-tech joint venture in 2023. That venture is separate from the satellite spectrum plan now under discussion.
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