Deutsche Telekom, Orange, Vodafone and Telefónica are in early talks to form a consortium that would bid for European satellite spectrum and offer calls, texts and data to ordinary phones from orbit, Bloomberg reported on Monday. The service would compete with Starlink on its home continent.
Paula Doenecke, Gian Volpicelli and Clara Hernanz Lizarraga cited people familiar with the matter who asked not to be identified. No decision has been taken on the consortium or on whether it will bid, they said. All four operators declined to comment to Bloomberg. TNW has not independently verified the report.
The prize is a slice of the 2 GHz band that Brussels wants to reserve for a European-controlled operator. The four companies together serve most of the mobile customers in the EU’s largest markets. If they bid as one, the reserved third of the band has an obvious winner before the auction opens.
What the spectrum is
The band in question is the 2 GHz mobile satellite services spectrum, a 30 MHz pairing that lets a handset keep a connection where no mast reaches. The current licences, held by Viasat and EchoStar since 2009, expire in May 2027. The European Commission proposed on 27 May to run a single EU-level selection for the next licences and to split the band in three.
