{"text":[[{"start":0,"text":"SpaceX has taken a big step towards launching a Starlink mobile service for US consumers, announcing its acquisition of a low-bandwidth spectrum portfolio and sending shares of big American telcos tumbling."}],[{"start":20.04,"text":"The company is buying licences for up to 14 megahertz of paired spectrum in the 800MHz band, it said in a statement on Thursday afternoon."}],[{"start":29.844,"text":"Shares of US mobile providers sank in after-hours trading following SpaceX’s announcement. Verizon Communications, which has the most mobile subscribers in the country, dropped 7 per cent. AT&T tumbled 7.5 per cent and T-Mobile US fell 6.7 per cent."}],[{"start":46.64,"text":"The move into retail contracts would mark one of SpaceX’s most significant commercial expansions since launching Starlink, which has now made high-speed internet connections available in more than 160 countries via the group’s constellation of satellites."}],[{"start":60.16,"text":"“Very big deal,” SpaceX chief executive Elon Musk said in an X post. Shares in his AI-to-rockets group were up 2.7 per cent in after-hours trading."}],[{"start":71.12,"text":"Ahead of its record-breaking initial public offering in June, SpaceX executives told investors the company was considering launching a Starlink retail product."}],[{"start":80.48,"text":"SpaceX laid some of the groundwork to expand its services in the US last year, when it paid $17bn to buy wireless spectrum licences from embattled operator EchoStar."}],[{"start":91.4,"text":"SpaceX has already offered more limited direct-to-consumer services in the US. It has given telcos such as T-Mobile access to its satellites so they can augment their existing network coverage in rural areas."}],[{"start":103.12,"text":"But the acquisition of the low-band spectrum and a subsequent direct-to-consumer mobile offering would give SpaceX access to a much bigger market than its satellite broadband alone and could also result in it reducing its reliance on telecoms partners."}],[{"start":116.72,"text":"SpaceX said that following final approval from the Federal Communications Commission, which sells the spectrum licences, it will combine its satellite-to-mobile services with a terrestrial network that can “connect devices everywhere”."}],[{"start":128.48,"text":"The low-band spectrum will provide a “coverage layer” that would allow Starlink Mobile signals to penetrate obstacles such as walls, thereby allowing customers to use their devices while inside buildings."}],[{"start":139.84,"text":"“Buying spectrum is not a commitment to build a nationwide network. But this is the spectrum we thought SpaceX needed to make that option more credible— and less expensive,” Bernstein analysts wrote in a note following SpaceX’s announcement."}],[{"start":159.2,"text":""}]],"url":"https://audio.ftcn.net.cn/album/a_1791514696_4999.mp3"}