Europe's four largest mobile operators are in early-stage negotiations to create a joint venture that would bid for satellite-internet spectrum the European Union intends to reserve for home-grown providers. Deutsche Telekom, Orange, Vodafone and Telefónica together serve hundreds of millions of subscribers across the continent, and their collaboration would represent the most coordinated European response yet to the dominance of SpaceX's Starlink constellation in satellite broadband.

The talks remain preliminary, according to a Bloomberg report cited by Heise. If they succeed, the joint venture would compete for frequencies in the 2 GHz band that the EU plans to ring-fence for European companies, giving the consortium a path into direct-to-mobile satellite connectivity.

How the 2 GHz band will be carved up

The current frequency regime for the 2 GHz satellite band, designated for mobile satellite applications, expires in May 2027. Under the planned restructuring, the spectrum between 1980 and 2010 MHz and between 2170 and 2200 MHz will be divided into three portions.

One-third will be reserved for government and authority communications. The remaining two-thirds will be split equally: half reserved for EU-based providers, and half open to bidders from anywhere in the world, including non-EU companies. The EU reservation is deliberate policy, designed to foster a continental alternative to Starlink, which already operates thousands of satellites and provides coverage across Europe and beyond. The European Commission's radio spectrum policy framework has been moving towards this allocation for two years.

Vodafone's awkward geography

Vodafone, headquartered in Newbury in the United Kingdom, presents a structural complication. Since Brexit, a British company does not qualify as an EU provider. Vodafone already operates a joint venture with AST SpaceMobile, a Texas-based satellite company that aims to connect mobile phones directly from orbit. That partnership, on its own, could bid only for the open portion of the commercial spectrum, the tranche available to companies from outside the EU.

By joining forces with Deutsche Telekom, Orange and Telefónica, all headquartered inside the EU, Vodafone could gain a route into the EU-reserved portion. Whether this arrangement satisfies the EU's ownership and control requirements is a question regulators will have to address.

Why operators are moving now

The timing is not accidental. The EU has signalled for months that it wants European operators to step forward. The satellite-to-mobile market is shifting from theory to commercial deployment: Starlink already partners with T-Mobile in the United States, and AST SpaceMobile has demonstrated direct-to-phone calls from orbit. European operators risk being left without infrastructure if they do not secure spectrum and partnerships soon.

For the four operators, a joint venture offers a way to share the substantial capital costs of satellite deployment or airtime purchasing, and to avoid fragmenting the European market with competing bids for the same reserved frequencies. A single consortium bidding for the EU tranche would present a cleaner proposition to regulators than four overlapping applications.

The competitive calculation against Starlink

Starlink's advantages are formidable. SpaceX launches its own satellites at marginal cost, operates a constellation of roughly 6,000 already, and has a commercial service up and running. Any European consortium would start from a position of catch-up, whether it builds its own constellation or leases capacity from an existing satellite operator.

The EU's spectrum reservation tilts the field, but only partially. The reserved portion guarantees European bidders a foothold, yet the open portion means Starlink or another non-EU operator could compete for adjacent frequencies in the same band. Interference management between the two portions will be technically demanding.

Regulatory questions ahead

The European Commission has encouraged this kind of consolidation in principle, arguing that fragmented national markets prevent European operators from competing at global scale. Whether the Commission applies the same enthusiasm when four dominant mobile operators form a joint venture in a new market segment is another matter. Competition authorities in Brussels and in national capitals will scrutinise the arrangement for any risk that it could be used to coordinate behaviour in the broader mobile market.

The structure of the joint venture, including ownership shares, governance and the degree of operational independence from the parent companies, will determine whether it clears regulatory review.

Organisations

Deutsche Telekom · Orange · Vodafone · Telefónica · AST SpaceMobile · SpaceX