SpaceX agrees to buy Grain Management's nationwide 800 MHz spectrum for Starlink Mobile

Investment firm Grain Management announced on Thursday, October 8, that it has signed a definitive agreement under which SpaceX will take over 100% of its nationwide 800 MHz spectrum portfolio. According to SpaceX statements quoted by CNBC and The Verge, the licences cover up to 14 megahertz of paired spectrum in that band. Grain says the purchase still requires approval from the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) and has to satisfy other closing conditions that are customary for such deals. Via Satellite reports that financial terms were not disclosed. SpaceX intends to use the frequencies for Starlink Mobile, its direct-to-device (D2D) service, and says the new spectrum closes one of the remaining technical gaps on the service's route to becoming “a major mobile carrier in the US”.

The appeal of low-band spectrum is reach. In a statement quoted by Via Satellite, SpaceX explains that its 2 GHz mid-band spectrum, which The Verge notes it previously obtained from EchoStar, is meant to supply high-bandwidth capacity in the United States, while the new 800 MHz holdings would form a coverage layer whose signal passes through obstacles such as walls and reaches phones inside buildings. SpaceX also says most current mobile devices already support the band. According to The Verge, SpaceX plans to roll out an architecture combining its satellite-to-phone constellation with a terrestrial mobile network once the FCC signs off, which would put it in direct competition with T-Mobile, AT&T and Verizon. Together with its second-generation satellites, SpaceX claims Starlink Mobile would become the first network operator to use both satellite and terrestrial spectrum.

The FCC recently approved SpaceX's plan to deploy 15,000 Starlink Mobile satellites for direct-to-device service, The Verge and Via Satellite report; SpaceX says the new generation will offer more than 100 times the bandwidth of the current one. Grain, founded in 2007 and focused on digital infrastructure, bought the 800 MHz portfolio from T-Mobile in a deal it completed in August 2026, paying with cash and its own 600MHz spectrum. Via Satellite puts that earlier transaction at $2.9 billion in cash plus additional spectrum licences. Grain says the sale to SpaceX serves the goals of the FCC's July 2026 order that approved the T-Mobile purchase, an order that set up a competitive selection process and a conditional route for D2D deployment. Founder and chief executive David Grain said the agreement carries “the potential to change where and how Americans connect”. BDT & MSD Partners acted as Grain's financial advisor, with Milbank as legal counsel and Latham & Watkins as regulatory counsel.

Investors reacted quickly, according to CNBC: in after-hours trading following the announcement, the stocks of AT&T, Verizon and T-Mobile fell sharply, while SpaceX shares rose about 2.5% after hours, having fallen 4% during the regular session. SpaceX CEO Elon Musk talked up the agreement in a post on X, CNBC reports. The broadcaster notes that the three carriers formed a joint venture last week to expand coverage in underserved areas through satellite and D2D services, without Starlink, and that T-Mobile had earlier dropped references to Starlink from its T-Satellite promotions. Industry analyst Tim Farrar of TMF Associates told CNBC the deal intensifies the contest between SpaceX and mobile operators, but cautioned that “it's still a very limited amount of spectrum” and that dependable indoor coverage in cities would require SpaceX to build towers on the ground.

The deal lands amid wider FCC activity on satellite-to-phone services. CNBC reports that a day earlier the regulator announced a vote on auctioning 25 megahertz of spectrum for D2D services, and that it plans to vote on October 29 on seeking public comment about making an additional 482MHz available for supplemental coverage from space and updating its D2D rules; both steps could benefit SpaceX as well as Amazon. Starlink, SpaceX's only profitable segment so far according to CNBC, counted 12 million subscribers as of June 30 in 205 countries where it is offered, according to SpaceX's second-quarter report. SpaceX did not immediately tell CNBC when the new services might launch if regulators approve the purchase.