Elon Musk Says SpaceX's Starlink Is Rewriting Telecom With ‘Entirely New Pieces’ as T-Mobile, AT&T and Verizon Downplay the Threat: ‘They Don't Understand’

Space Exploration Technologies Corp. (NASDAQ:SPCX) CEO Elon Musk backed the company’s Starlink satellite internet service over its traditional telecom rivals, comparing the sector to a game of chess. SpaceX’s Starlink May Be ‘Under Appreciated’ On Tuesday, Mach33 founder Aaron Burnett quoted a post by influencer Sawyer Merritt, who shared his take on the SpaceX earnings call, hailing the video format as opposed to a traditional audio one. “The Starlink / Starlink mobile opportunity is clearly being missed or at least under appreciated,” Burnett said in his post, pointing to Musk’s suggestion for a deeper Starlink update for investors. He also pointed to the complex nature of Starlink, saying it was an “overlap” of several technologies that perhaps did not “inspire innovative thought.” Elon suggested a deeper Starlink technology and strategy update for the investors to help explain what they see internally. This is an absolutely phenomenal idea. The Starlink / Starlink mobile opportunity is clearly being missed or at least under appreciated. I don’t know… https://t.co/LIJjBkNycN— Aaron Burnett (@aaronburnett) October 20, 2026 Elon Musk Says Starlink Will ‘Fundamentally Alter’ Cellular Network Responding to Burnett, Musk shared his view on Starlink. “We definitely need to explain this in detail,” he said, agreeing with Burnett. “Veterans of the cellular industry look at the chess board of existing pieces and don’t see a solution,” he said. The billionaire then backed SpaceX’s approach to the sector. “They don’t understand that SpaceX is developing entirely new pieces that fundamentally alter the strategic landscape,” he said. We definitely need to explain this in detail. Veterans of the cellular industry look at the chess board of existing pieces and don’t see a solution. They don’t understand that SpaceX is developing entirely new pieces that fundamentally alter the strategic landscape.— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) October 20, 2026 Musk Touts ‘Earthquake,’ but Telcos Remain Skeptical Earlier this month, Musk predicted that an “earthquake” was about to hit the telecom industry following the announcement that SpaceX had agreed to acquire 800 MHz low-band spectrum, calling it the “last critical piece” of the cell service puzzle. However, cell service operators remain skeptical of Starlink’s cellular service, which would rely on small cellular base stations called femtocells to improve indoor connectivity. AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T) CEO John Stankey had dismissed SpaceX’s cellular service talks. He said that the technology had to overcome regulatory hurdles, as well as technological limitations. T-Mobile US Inc.‘s (NASDAQ:TMUS) CFO Pete Osvaldik also expressed skepticism about Starlink’s threat to telecom operators. "You can have a million satellites up there with all the spectrum in the world; you can’t break the fundamental laws of physics," Osvaldik had said when asked about Starlink’s satellite-based internet. During its second-quarter earnings call earlier this year, Verizon CEO Dan Schulman dismissed concerns about Starlink. “It is very difficult for satellite providers to provide a service that’s even close to what we can provide with our broadband services,” he said. Read Also: Verizon Has a 6.8% Dividend Yield, but SpaceX Is Changing the Risk-Reward At the time of writing this article, Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) shares fell 0.36% to $44.38 during overnight trading. TMUS fell 0.60% to $156.80, while AT&T grew 0.47% to $23.53 during overnight trading on Tuesday. SpaceX Earnings, Elon Musk’s Bold ARR Prediction SpaceX released its third-quarter 2026 earnings report on Tuesday, in which the company exceeded market expectations in terms of its revenue and its earnings per share figures. SpaceX reported revenue of $14.58 billion, beating analyst consensus of $12.74 billion. It also reported earnings of 35 cents per share, exceeding the 12 cents per share consensus. During its earnings call with investors, Musk predicted that SpaceX could reach an Annual Recurring Revenue (ARR) of up to $1 trillion by the end of 2027. SpaceX’s President Gwynne Shotwell also confirmed that the Starlink service was already contracted to be available on 12,000 aircraft. Price Action: SPCX shares were up 9.32% to $161.56 during overnight trading, according to Benzinga Pro data. Check out more of Benzinga’s Future Of Mobility coverage by following this link. Photo courtesy: Shutterstock