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SPCX stock slips overnight: T-Mobile CEO again rejects SpaceX mobile network deal. 29 October 2026, 19:37 published T-Mobile says MVNO agreements must bring new customers, distribution channels, or capabilities. Gopalan called satellite broadband inferior to fixed wireless outside some deep-rural areas, citing limited benefits. SpaceX is pursuing spectrum and reportedly seeking access to at least 80,000 U.S. cell sites for its hybrid network. Shares of Space Exploration Technologies Corp. (SPCX) slipped 1% overnight heading into Wednesday as T-Mobile CEO Srini Gopalan doubled down on his rejection of a mobile virtual network operator (MVNO) arrangement with SpaceX, saying he sees "no room" for a deal in either consumer wireless or physical and edge AI. SPCX stock fell over 2% on Wednesday to $145.23, bringing its weekly losses to nearly 2%. See what 10M+ investors are talking about. Get the Stocktwits Daily Rip for what retail is watching right now, free to your inbox "But the answer to the MVNO is I see no room for an MVNO with SpaceX, either on the consumer side or on the physical and Edge AI side," Gopalan said on T-Mobile's third-quarter (Q3) earnings call. An MVNO sells wireless service using wholesale access to another carrier's network. Such a deal could support a SpaceX-branded mobile offering, while the company develops its own terrestrial infrastructure. Gopalan said T-Mobile's criteria remain unchanged: additional customers, new distribution channels or capabilities. "The way we think about it is, does an MVNO give us access to incremental TAM? Does it give us access to new distribution channels? Does it give us incremental capability of any sort?" he said. When asked whether an edge-computing partnership could offer an alternative to SpaceX building its own network, Gopalan pointed to T-Mobile's standalone 5G investments and preparations for 6G. "We see ourselves in the lead in terms of those capabilities, and we see no space for an MVNO here because what additional capabilities does it give us? Why does it change our ability to compete?" he said. T-Mobile is already working with Amazon Web Services on Kinetic Edge, combining its wireless network and distributed computing infrastructure with AWS cloud and AI services. Gopalan said SpaceX's shifting strategy was making the company harder to define. "It's hard to refer to them now as a satellite provider or a satellite provider that is going to build terrestrial," he said. He also questioned the value of pairing satellite broadband with T-Mobile's fixed wireless access (FWA), which delivers internet over cellular networks.

What's up with... Deutsche Telekom, T-Mobile US, NGMN. Oct 29, 2026 * Deutsche Telekom shies away from major merger * T-Mobile US reports growth and AI progress * NGMN seeks vendor input on preferred 6G migration option In today's industry news roundup: Deutsche Telekom has reportedly shelved its plan to create a giant telco holding group by merging with T-Mobile US; meanwhile, T-Mobile US continues to report impressive growth and share the progress it is making on enabling the AI economy; the NGMN is seeking input from network vendors as to whether Multi-RAT Spectrum Sharing (MRSS) is a viable option for 6G; and much more! Deutsche Telekom has put any plans it had to merge with T-Mobile US, in which it holds a majority stake, on hold due to resistance from investors, according to Bloomberg (subscription required): In September, the Financial Times (subscription required) reported that renowned activist investor Elliott Management had built a sizeable but undetermined stake in Deutsche Telekom and made it known that it opposed a merger with T-Mobile US, urging DT's team to focus on other ways to generate growth. The news gave DT's share price a boost as it jumped by 2.6% to €25.79 in Thursday trading. Reports emerged in April that DT was considering a merger with its North American operation, but that there would be many hurdles to overcome for such a deal to be concluded. The news came only hours after T-Mobile US reported a 6% year-on-year increase in service revenues to $19.36bn for the third quarter, while its core adjusted EBITDA grew by 11% to $9.62bn. The operator's CEO Srini Gopalan stated in the operator's earnings release: "Q3 marked another strong quarter and is further proof that our winning formula of the best network, best value, and best experiences drives durable and profitable growth. More families and businesses are choosing T-Mobile, fueling our industry-leading financial growth. Our value proposition is clearly resonating for all customers, with our network as a significant driver of differentiation. We're continuing to push the envelope on customer experience and innovation, with our best-in-class NPS underscoring our customer-first orientation. We have a tremendous growth runway ahead across core wireless, broadband, and smart adjacencies, and we're just getting started." And in the company's third quarter webcast, Gopalan called out T-Mobile US's ongoing AI service developments, especially with regards to supporting physical AI deployments. He noted that the operator continues to "see more proof points in the physical AI opportunity where we've progressed beyond connecting humanoid robots with eSIMs and are now testing how the network helps deliver the intelligence itself. To enable all of these use cases, we're partnering with Amazon Web Services, AWS, to build the first instances of our Kinetic Edge... a distributed intelligence infrastructure for physical AI. It combines our nationwide 5G Advanced network and distributed edge with AWS's cloud orchestration and AI services. This puts together deterministic connectivity, compute, and intelligence closer to the machines and gives enterprises exactly what they need to take physical AI from isolated demos to production at scale." For more on the Kinetic Edge, see this blog from John Saw, CTO at T-Mobile US. As part of its ongoing efforts to help enable a smooth migration path from the 5G era into 6G, industry body the Next Generation Mobile Networks Alliance (NGMN) has asked network infrastructure vendors to "consult on whether Multi-RAT Spectrum Sharing (MRSS) can operate on existing hardware deployments and in existing frequency bands without adversely affecting performance. Building on NGMN's updated operator guidance issued in conjunction with the 3GPP plenary meeting in September, NGMN's Board of Directors has asked vendors to confirm whether MRSS can operate on existing RAN hardware/product deployments and in existing frequency bands," it continued in this announcement. "Vendors are expected to provide evidence or confirmation of any adverse performance impact across the current RAN hardware/product portfolio, including any impact on supported product configurations and frequency bands," it added. NGMN noted that its mobile operator members are keen to "keep the number of 6G migration options to an absolute minimum," and that "MRSS is the preferred approach and should be the sole migration option if it meets the required performance and total cost of ownership (TCO) criteria. The aim is to avoid standardising additional options where MRSS already meets operators' requirements." For more on NGMN's take on 6G, see Operators urge pragmatic approach to 6G. Japan's KDDI and its datacentre subsidiary Telehouse have acquired land worth more than £220m in London's Docklands as part of its plans to build a new, high-density, AI-ready datacentre. The land, which was bought from LaSalle Investment Management and Trilogy Real Estate, will be used to expand Telehouse's existing London Docklands campus, which the company first opened on the site in 1990 as one of the first purpose-built carrier-neutral datacentres in Europe. In its announcement, Telehouse said it has already secured 65 MVA (Megavolt-Ampere) of power capacity for the site, which will also enable future expansion plans. It is located close to Telehouse's existing Docklands campus and currently features two office buildings totaling 483,000 sq ft (44,862 sqm). Planning consent is in place for a 376,000 sq ft (35,000 sqm) facility on the land. The company has already broken ground on a nine-story datacentre building on the Docklands site, which it is calling Telehouse West Two, due for completion in 2028. Takayo Takamuro, who is Europe CEO at KDDI, and who sits on the Telehouse Board, said: "This acquisition supports the next phase of our growth and our commitment to supporting customers' AI ambitions. The new datacentre will be one of the largest facilities in the Telehouse London Docklands campus, reinforcing its role as the leading connectivity hub in Europe." With the demands from enterprise users growing for greater security and AI capabilities, Lumen Technologies has announced "three new initiatives using intelligent networking to address AI energy challenges, future quantum connectivity, and emerging security threats". The operator, which says it is "turning its network into an active platform for innovation [by] combining fibre connectivity scale, programmable control, software intelligence, and a connected ecosystem of partners to help enable the next generation of computing", has: launched Emerald AI, which "enables AI workloads to automatically shift to alternate locations based on power availability, cost, and other factors"; invested in research at The Ohio State University to "explore how its fibre infrastructure could support quantum connectivity over distances"; and is "preparing to introduce quantum-resistant security capabilities through its Fortinet -based Secure Access Service Edge (SASE) solution to help enterprises protect sensitive information against future quantum threats". Lumen's CEO Kate Johnson noted: "The network must do more than just connect. It must help solve the defining challenges of our time. We're innovating our network to help AI computing adapt to available energy, lay the foundation for a connected quantum future, and prepare enterprises for continuous and emerging security threats. These are distinct challenges that demand a network built for what's next." - The staff, TelecomTV Can GitOps pave the way to an autonomous 5G core? Join Ericsson, Swisscom and CCSquared for an expert panel discussion on 3 November at 4pm UK time. Register now. How is AI shaping the future of the RAN? Explore the opportunities for AI in radio access networks in TelecomTV's latest report. Download now.

T-Mobile chief executive Srini Gopalan said he sees "no room" for a mobile virtual network operator (MVNO) deal with SpaceX, on the company's third-quarter earnings call on October 28, 2026. Verizon's chief executive has taken the same stance. The refusal comes as SpaceX agreed to buy nationwide 800 MHz spectrum and was reported to be in talks to access about 80,000 US cell sites. Without wholesale access, SpaceX must own spectrum and rent towers, a costlier path. The spectrum deal needs Federal Communications Commission approval and is expected to close in the first half of 2027. Gopalan said he would consider a resale deal for a complementary product. T-Mobile earned $3.22 a share on $23.58 billion of revenue, and raised its free cash flow guidance to $18.7 billion to $18.8 billion.