In the United States, Elon Musk could be on the verge of buying virtual operator Boost Mobile to disrupt the American telecom market

Nothing will stop Elon Musk and his dream of making SpaceX a mobile operator. Especially not the three American telecom giants, all of whom have been approached by the South African billionaire in recent months. T-Mobile, Verizon and AT&T have all refused to let SpaceX access their massive networks and infrastructure to launch its cell phone offering.

Now, Musk is changing tactics. Instead of targeting the biggest, according to information from the Washington Post, it is in the process of buying Boost Mobile. This low-cost virtual operator (MVNO), aimed mainly at families with lower incomes, could be SpaceX's back door to this coveted market.

A hybrid strategy to dynamite the market Still in negotiations with EchoStar, the parent company of Boost Mobile, Elon Musk is aiming for a takeover, or at least the possibility of accessing the networks used by the MVNO. The American operator is a customer of AT&T and T-Mobile for its ground infrastructures. This access to infrastructure would complement SpaceX's frequency purchases, already made from EchoStar last year, but also in October, with low frequencies, which would allow access to the interior of buildings, the high frequencies of the satellites not passing through walls.

These massive investments must still be validated by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), the American telecoms regulator. But they would complete the arsenal of SpaceX, which has already obtained authorization from the authority to launch 15,000 second-generation satellites, which will be capable of communicating directly with smartphones, "direct to cell", without going through 4G/5G antennas on the ground.

With this hybrid strategy, based both on its satellites and on traditional mobile telephony frequencies, Elon Musk intends to dynamite the market. But the South African multi-billionaire could face several significant obstacles. Technical and legal limits First, the historic operators do not intend to let themselves take a share of the American telephony pie, a market estimated at 235 billion by the research firm MoffettNathanson.

AT&T and T-Mobile, owners of the network EchoStar leases for Boost Mobile, could object to the divestiture of the lease agreements if the SpaceX deal goes through. In addition, the current performance of its "direct to cell" network leaves something to be desired - hence the importance of putting dedicated satellites into orbit. In partnership with SpaceX, T-Mobile is offering a satellite offer, to allow its customers to send SMS and locate themselves in areas not covered by the traditional network.

This "direct to cell" offer is therefore less efficient, according to an Ookla study, published on November 3: only 86% of SMS are delivered, compared to 98% for the terrestrial network. And the delay between sending and receiving is on average 16.6 seconds, almost thirteen times higher than on the traditional terrestrial network. No wonder, when messages must travel the more than 300 kilometers between Earth and Starlink's low-orbit satellites.

Machine-translated from French