European Starlink alternative for phones: four carriers team up

They agreed to talk seriously, nothing more yet. The letter of intent commits the four to explore a combined bid for mobile satellite services spectrum, the radio frequencies set aside for satellite links, when Europe hands out new rights next year.

The plan they describe has three parts:

• Wholesale access for everyone. The service would be sold to all mobile networks on equal terms, not kept for the four founders.
• European ground control. The carriers would build the ground network and run the key coordination and monitoring work from inside Europe.
• Someone else’s satellites. They won’t build or pay for a constellation directly. A satellite partner, still to be picked, would supply that.

The companies say the aim is coverage in underserved areas, tougher public networks and protection for critical communications, plus support for a homegrown constellation. Their statement doesn’t name Starlink. It doesn’t need to.

Direct-to-device, often shortened to D2D, means your normal phone talks to a satellite overhead when there’s no cell tower in range. No dish, no special handset. Today it mostly handles texts and basic data, but it’s improving fast.

Starlink already sells this through phone companies. It works with T-Mobile in the US, and in the UK, Virgin Media O2, which is part-owned by Telefonica, offers a satellite service through Starlink. SpaceX also has bigger ambitions: it wants spectrum of its own so it can sell mobile service directly, without local carriers in the middle.

That’s the real fear. One industry analyst at Ookla, Luke Kehoe, put it bluntly: European carriers don’t want to end up merely reselling someone else’s satellite service on someone else’s terms. Owning the airwaves would give them more leverage in any deal.

The prize is a slice of the 2 GHz band, frequencies that carry signals a long way and suit satellite-to-phone links. The current licenses expire in May 2027. Right now they’re held by EchoStar, whose share is due to pass to SpaceX after a spectrum purchase, and Viasat, each with a block of 2x15MHz.

The European Commission has proposed splitting the band into three:

1. one-third for government use, tied to IRIS2, the EU’s planned secure satellite network;
2. one-third for European newcomers;
3. one-third open to both EU and non-EU operators.

Under that plan, outside players such as Starlink, Amazon Leo and AST SpaceMobile would be competing for a 10MHz block. SpaceX has lobbied against the idea, warning in a confidential paper that it would leave European customers worse off and could cause signal interference.

Washington isn’t happy. FCC Chairman Brendan Carr has said the US regulator could put similar limits on European satellite companies in return. Andrew Puzder, the US ambassador to the EU, warned that retaliation could be devastating for European firms given the size of the American market.

The timing adds heat. The announcement follows a dispute over a disruption last week to Starshield, the military version of Starlink, in Ukraine. It isn’t the consumer service, but it sharpened worries in Europe about relying on space infrastructure it doesn’t control. French President Emmanuel Macron had already urged European companies to team up on satellite capacity.

For now, nothing changes. All four carriers say their existing satellite deals stay in place, and the partnerships are tangled:

• Vodafone runs a joint venture with AST SpaceMobile called Satellite Connect Europe, which welcomed the news.
• Orange has also teamed up with AST SpaceMobile.
• Deutsche Telekom sells Starlink broadband to businesses and plans to offer Starlink’s phone service in 2028.
• Virgin Media O2 in the UK keeps its Starlink-powered service.

If you’re a Vodafone or O2 customer in the UK, the long-term upside is more competition for satellite coverage, which should mean better prices and fewer customers locked into a single provider. The open-access model also matters for smaller networks, which could buy satellite coverage on fair terms instead of being shut out.

In the US, AT&T, T-Mobile and Verizon announced their own joint effort earlier this year to pool rural and dead-zone spectrum for satellite providers. Europe’s move follows the same logic. For Americans, the bigger story may be the trade fight, since any US retaliation over spectrum could ripple into tech and telecom deals on both sides.

There are plenty. The group needs a satellite partner. European names such as Eutelsat and the planned IRIS2 network are often mentioned as alternatives to Starlink, but nobody has been picked. The carriers still have to win the spectrum. And critics warn that sovereignty shouldn’t become a shield that protects big incumbents from competition, a balance Brussels now has to strike.

The next milestone is the EU’s spectrum award ahead of the May 2027 license expiry. Until then, this is a statement of intent, not a service you can sign up for.