SpaceX · Starlink · 2 Nov 2026
SpaceX is in talks to buy Boost Mobile, the Washington Post reports
SpaceX is in talks with EchoStar to either buy Boost Mobile or get access to the network it uses, the Washington Post reported Monday, citing people familiar with the negotiations. A deal would give Starlink Mobile millions of existing phone customers. The catch is that Boost doesn't own its network. It leases it from AT&T and T-Mobile, two of the carriers SpaceX wants to compete with. No deal has been announced.
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The editor holds Tesla and SpaceX shares. Supercharged Daily is independent and not affiliated with either company. Nothing here is financial advice.
SpaceX is looking into launching its own service through Boost Mobile, the Washington Post reports.
— The Verge (@verge) November 2, 2026
What was reported
The Washington Post's story, published at 5:00am ET on Monday, 2 Nov 2026 (2:00am PT), says SpaceX is in talks to buy Boost Mobile or use its network. The Post calls it a potential "back door" into the $235 billion US wireless market. According to Reuters' summary of the report, SpaceX has held talks with EchoStar in recent months about launching its own wireless service through a deal with the company, citing people familiar with the negotiations.
The Post reports that Elon Musk has been involved personally and met EchoStar chairman Charlie Ergen last month. It also reports that, in recent months, Musk asked the heads of Verizon and other top telecom companies to give SpaceX access to their networks so it could launch its own phone service.
SpaceX and EchoStar didn't respond to requests for comment from Reuters or The Next Web. This is a report of talks, not an announced deal.
What Boost would bring
EchoStar had 7.38 million wireless subscribers at the end of the second quarter of 2026, mostly Boost Mobile and Gen Mobile customers, Reuters reported. A deal could give SpaceX a ready-made subscriber base and a way to sell service. Those are pieces Verizon CEO Dan Schulman said SpaceX would still need. On 26 Oct he listed retail, customer service and back-office systems as things it would have to build (my write-up of that call).
For scale, SpaceX reported 13.6 million Starlink consumer subscribers worldwide as of 30 Sep 2026, a figure I compared with AT&T's fiber base last month. EchoStar's 7.38 million is about 54% of that. That's my math, and it compares US phone lines with global satellite internet customers. It also assumes a full purchase and that every customer stays, which rarely happens when a carrier changes owners.
The catch: Boost leases its network
Boost Mobile doesn't run its own nationwide tower network. It leases capacity from AT&T and T-Mobile. According to the Post, those leases may not transfer to a new owner without the carriers' approval. In other words, a SpaceX-owned Boost could need permission from two of the three companies it wants to take customers from.
Verizon has already said what it thinks of this kind of arrangement. On its 26 Oct earnings call, Schulman said there are "no back doors" in Verizon's wholesale (MVNO) deals and he sees "absolutely no benefit whatsoever" in giving one to a satellite provider. As far as I can find, AT&T and T-Mobile haven't said anything public about Boost's leases.
SpaceX and EchoStar already have a deal
The two companies already have a deal. On 8 Sep 2025, EchoStar agreed to sell its AWS-4 and H-block spectrum licenses to SpaceX for about $17 billion. The terms were up to $8.5 billion in cash and up to $8.5 billion in SpaceX stock, plus about $2 billion of cash interest payments on EchoStar debt through November 2027. The agreement also came with a long-term commercial deal letting Boost Mobile subscribers use SpaceX's next-generation Starlink Direct to Cell service.
The FCC approved the transfer on 12 May 2026. EchoStar says it moved the spectrum into a trust on 22 May 2026. The final step, where SpaceX takes the licenses and pays, is targeted for 30 Nov 2027.
On 8 Oct 2026, Grain Management announced a definitive agreement to sell its nationwide 800 MHz low-band spectrum to SpaceX. That deal is still subject to FCC approval. Grain didn't disclose the price; Reuters has described it as an $8 billion deal. Two weeks later, Bloomberg reported that SpaceX was in talks for access to at least 80,000 US cell sites.
Put together, SpaceX has the satellites, has agreed to buy spectrum and is reported to be in talks on towers. What it doesn't have is a base of phone customers and a ground network they can use in cities today. Boost could fill some of that gap.
How the market reacted
Before Monday's open, EchoStar shares were up about 3.4% and T-Mobile was down about 2%, Reuters reported. AT&T and Verizon also edged lower. These were pre-market moves as of Reuters' report on the morning of 2 Nov 2026, and they could change by the close.
What's done, and what's only talk
- Signed and FCC-approved: the roughly $17 billion EchoStar spectrum deal (agreed Sep 2025, approved May 2026). It includes Starlink Direct to Cell access for Boost customers. The final closing is targeted for 30 Nov 2027.
- Signed, pending FCC approval: the Grain 800 MHz spectrum purchase (Oct 2026). The roughly $8 billion price is reported, not disclosed.
- Reported talks only: buying Boost Mobile or getting access to its network (Washington Post), and access to at least 80,000 cell sites (Bloomberg).
- Unknown: a price, a timeline, and whether AT&T and T-Mobile would agree to keep carrying Boost customers under SpaceX.
My read
If the talks led to a purchase, it would be the quickest way for SpaceX to look like a real phone carrier, with millions of customers and a working brand from day one. But the network underneath would still belong to AT&T and T-Mobile. So a deal would likely depend on those two agreeing, or on SpaceX building enough of its own ground network to move Boost customers onto it. The thing to watch is whether either carrier says anything about those leases.
Sources: The Washington Post (2 Nov 2026); Reuters via Investing.com (2 Nov 2026); The Next Web (2 Nov 2026); The Verge on X (2 Nov 2026); EchoStar and SpaceX press release (8 Sep 2025); FCC order DA-26-471 (12 May 2026); EchoStar Form 8-K (22 May 2026); Grain Management (8 Oct 2026). Figures as of 2 Nov 2026.
— Alex R
