Europe's big carriers in talks over a satellite consortium to take on Starlink

Deutsche Telekom, Orange, Vodafone and Telefónica are holding preliminary talks to form a joint consortium that would bid for satellite spectrum and offer satellite-to-mobile direct connectivity services in Europe, according to Bloomberg, which cited sources familiar with the matter who asked to remain anonymous because the plans are private. The initiative aims to compete with Starlink, Elon Musk's satellite internet service that already operates on the continent.

According to these sources, the four operators would seek to share a portion of the spectrum that the European Union has proposed reserving specifically for a local operator, as part of a strategy geared toward strengthening the bloc's sovereign satellite capabilities. In other words, Brussels would be considering allocating part of those frequencies to a European player rather than leaving them open to non-EU competitors such as Starlink itself.

The article stresses that the talks are at a very early stage: no final decision has been made either on forming the consortium or on whether they will ultimately submit a joint bid for the spectrum. No timelines, amounts, the quantity of spectrum at stake or the breakdown of stakes among the companies are specified — details the report itself does not provide.

Direct-to-mobile connectivity technology allows conventional phones to link up with satellites without additional hardware, covering areas with no terrestrial coverage. It is a segment in which Starlink has already made headway with its own agreements and deployments, which explains why Europe's large telcos are keen not to fall behind and to lean on the regulatory backing the EU appears willing to offer a continental player.

Beyond these elements, the Bloomberg article provides no comments from the companies involved or from the European Commission, so any assessment of the project's ultimate scale, its viability or its timetable remains, for now, speculative.