Four of Europe’s biggest telecom companies are joining forces to challenge Elon Musk’s SpaceX as European leaders push to reduce the continent’s reliance on American tech.
Germany’s Deutsche Telekom, France’s Orange, the United Kingdom’s Vodafone Group, and Spain’s Telefónica announced Monday that they signed a letter of intent to explore a joint bid for satellite spectrum. These radio frequencies connect mobile phones directly to satellites instead of relying on cell towers.
The move comes as the European Union considers new rules for allocating satellite access on the 2 GHz spectrum. The European Commission has proposed reserving portions of that spectrum for European operators according to Bloomberg.
Under the proposed partnership, the four companies would establish ground infrastructure and operations in Europe while teaming up with a satellite provider. Other mobile carriers across Europe would also be able to use the network to offer satellite-to-phone services to their customers.
“The initiative supports the European Commission’s ambition to strengthen Europe’s sovereignty, security and resilience in critical connectivity infrastructure,” the companies said in a press release.
Over in the United States, AT&T, Verizon, and T-Mobile launched a similar joint venture this month to expand satellite connectivity in areas with limited or no cell service.
Musk has recently teased plans to expand his satellite internet service, SpaceX’s Starlink, into the mobile network business.
The European announcement also comes just days after Starlink’s military satellite service, Starshield, reportedly began restricting connections to terminals traveling above certain speeds, disrupting Ukrainian military drone operations. The restrictions have renewed questions about how much influence Musk and the U.S. government have over Ukraine’s war effort.
For his part, Musk wrote on X, “Any limits on speed or usage are decided by the US military and ultimately POTUS.”
President Donald Trump denied ordering the restrictions.
“It wasn’t me, and I don’t think it was Elon,” Trump told reporters on Friday.
Still, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy told NBC’s Meet the Press on Sunday that Ukrainian officials believe the restrictions were a “message from [the] American government.”
Meanwhile, the Trump administration’s other policies toward Europe, including tariffs and previous threats to take over Greenland, have fueled calls this past year among European leaders for greater independence from U.S. technology companies.
In June, the European Commission announced a tech sovereignty policy initiative to boost Europe’s tech industry and reduce its dependence on foreign companies.
Some European governments have already been taking steps in that direction. Earlier this year, the French government announced it would stop using American video conferencing platforms like Microsoft Teams and Zoom, and instead use the French platform Visio. France has also signed a deal for its armed forces to use Mistral’s models and software.
But not everyone is happy with some of the new homegrown alternatives.
SpaceX did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
