The possibility that Elon Musk's SpaceX could bring a mobile phone to market had investors of telecommunication stocks spooked on Monday.

Verizon Communications Inc. stock fell 6.5%, AT&T declined 4.9%, and T-Mobile dropped 4.6% on Monday. All three stocks were among the worst performing S&P 500 components in the trading session.

The substantial losses across the telecommunications sector came after Bloomberg reported late Friday that Charter Communications has held high-level discussions with SpaceX about possibly partnering on a consumer mobile phone in the U.S.

Charter may also run some of SpaceX's phone traffic through its ground-based internet infrastructure, according to Bloomberg.

SpaceX has also told investors it plans to launch a Starlink mobile service for U.S. consumers, according to a report from the Financial Times on Friday.

Charter Communications declined to comment to Barron's. SpaceX didn't respond to a request for comment.

There's long been speculation that Elon Musk might enter the mobile phone market, challenging Apple and Alphabet. Musk, however, has repeatedly shut down rumors that Tesla would produce a phone. Now it looks like SpaceX could be the phone maker in Musk's business empire.

Charter Communications, Comcast, AT&T, and Verizon have all come under pressure from SpaceX's Starlink business, the provider of satellite internet services which currently has about 12 million subscribers.

If Charter partners with SpaceX on a mobile phone, it would give the company exposure to Musk's Starlink business and growing subscriber base. It would also potentially mean that consumers might move away from cellular service providers like Verizon, AT&T, and T-Mobile in favor of Starlink's satellite internet and upcoming mobile services.

A Charter-SpaceX phone could be particularly troubling for T-Mobile. SpaceX already offers direct-to-cell connectivity with T-Mobile in the U.S.

Until recently Starlink had been viewed by the U.S. telecom and cable industry as not a major threat to their franchises. The leading wireless and cable companies considered Starlink to be a niche product for rural areas without fiber or cable internet connections.

But Wall Street has started to worry about Starlink taking market share from Comcast and Charter Communications, the two leading cable internet providers, and AT&T and Verizon Communication, which offer internet services via fiber.

"SpaceX will disrupt the $1.6T communications industry," wrote Oppenheimer analyst Tim Horan in a client note earlier this month.

The reaction from telecommunications investors on Monday certainly signal that the SpaceX threat to the industry may be real and coming sooner than expected.

Write to Kit Norton at kit.norton@barrons.com

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June 29, 2026 13:16 ET (17:16 GMT)

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