Tower operators rose while U.S. wireless carriers fell Friday; Bloomberg reported SpaceX talks over access to at least 80,000 cell sites, a potential source of leasing demand for tower companies.
At the 4 p.m. ET close on Oct. 23, AT&T shares were $20.93, down 7.96%. T-Mobile fell 7.71% to $146.54 and Verizon slipped 1.19% to $44.66. Crown Castle advanced 9.06% to $85.97, American Tower climbed 4.08% to $188.97, and SBA Communications rose 3.57% to $184.75, according to Stock Analysis historical data.
Bloomberg reported Oct. 22, citing people familiar with the discussions, that SpaceX was pursuing arrangements with cellular infrastructure companies for a footprint targeting at least 80,000 U.S. wireless sites. Crown Castle was among the companies named. The companies have not publicly confirmed the discussions, and no site-access deal was announced in the reporting.
The closing moves followed a premarket split. Reuters reported that all three carriers were down more than 3% before the market opened, while Crown Castle was up 8.5% and American Tower 5.6%. EconoTimes covered that snapshot in an earlier premarket report.
Carriers mount antennas and related equipment at cell sites, where tower operators lease space to network providers. Crown Castle reported a U.S. portfolio of roughly 40,000 towers. If SpaceX secures the reported access, it could become another potential tenant for tower owners, but no lease revenue or new customer additions were disclosed. The share moves alone do not establish that tower companies have won business or carriers have lost subscribers.
SpaceX is also pursuing spectrum for Starlink Mobile. On Oct. 8, Grain Management disclosed a pending sale to SpaceX covering all of its nationwide 800 MHz spectrum holdings. Grain said the spectrum would help Starlink Mobile serve customers through terrestrial and satellite connections. The agreement still requires Federal Communications Commission (FCC) approval and other closing conditions.
Grain’s announcement set no date for an FCC decision or for the sale to close.
