Deutsche Telekom's CEO just told Europe's carriers: don't even think about renting your network to SpaceX.
The warning targets mobile operators weighing a Mobile Virtual Network Operator deal with SpaceX, the arrangement that would let the satellite company sell phone service by piggybacking on an existing carrier's spectrum and towers. That's close to the deal T-Mobile US already has with Starlink's direct-to-cell satellites, which beam basic connectivity straight to ordinary phones in dead zones. Deutsche Telekom's CEO is telling counterparts across the industry not to open that door any wider. The message: hosting SpaceX as a tenant now could mean competing with it later.
Carriers have spent billions on spectrum and towers that satellite operators don't have to build. Handing SpaceX MVNO access would let it bypass that entire cost structure while still reaching customers' phones. If Starlink becomes a de facto wholesale carrier, telecom operators get to watch a potential competitor grow on their own infrastructure.
It's the same tension T-Mobile is already living with: today's satellite sidekick is tomorrow's rival with a direct line to your customers.