SpaceX seeks access to at least 80,000 U.S. cell sites; carriers slide as tower stocks jump

SpaceX is in talks with at least one major cellular-infrastructure company for access to at least 80,000 U.S. cell sites to build out a terrestrial wireless network, Bloomberg reported late on Oct. 22, citing people familiar with the matter. Crown Castle (CCI) is named as one of the companies in discussions. Reuters carried the report under Bloomberg's attribution rather than confirming it independently. On SPCX's own earnings call, Elon Musk said the company would build out terrestrial networks and that Starlink Mobile would become a "major mobile carrier".

The scale is what moved the incumbents. Per the Wireless Infrastructure Association figures cited by Reuters, 80,000 sites would equal half of the roughly 158,500 purpose-built cell towers operating in the U.S. Crown Castle owns about 40,000 U.S. towers, American Tower (AMT) about 42,000 U.S. sites and privately held Vertical Bridge about 18,000. Crown Castle's CEO said only that the company is "talking to all parties" about potential leases and declined to name customers. Shares of T, VZ and TMUS fell between 4.2% and 5% in extended trading after the report, and were still down about 2% to 3% overnight according to Stocktwits, while Crown Castle gained more than 6.5% and American Tower more than 3%.

The read-across cuts both ways for tower owners. Per Stocktwits, the three national carriers accounted for about 90% of Crown Castle's 2025 site rental revenue and 85% of American Tower's U.S. and Canada revenue, so a fourth well-funded tenant diversifies a concentrated customer base. For SpaceX, leasing existing sites is cheaper than building, but TD Cowen has estimated a full nationwide terrestrial network would cost more than $80 billion. No agreement has been announced; what to watch is whether any tower owner confirms a lease, the terms, and how the carriers address the threat on their own earnings calls.