SpaceX is in talks to buy Boost Mobile from EchoStar, according to The Washington Post. The acquisition would give the Elon Musk-owned company access to a terrestrial cellular network operator with 7.5 million customers across Boost Mobile and GenMobile.
Elon Musk spoke directly with EchoStar chairman Charlie Ergen in October about the deal. Musk had previously approached AT&T, T-Mobile, and Verizon about buying capacity on their networks, but all three rejected him.
Boost Mobile leases network capacity from AT&T and T-Mobile rather than operating its own towers. Those companies would likely need to approve any transfer, as network leases are typically nontransferable. Boost currently covers most of the 48 contiguous U.S. states.
SpaceX already spent $17 billion on wireless spectrum from EchoStar last year and rolled out satellite cellular access to T-Mobile subscribers in 2024. An acquisition of Boost Mobile would let SpaceX combine satellite coverage with terrestrial networks. When Starlink signals can't reach devices outdoors, cell towers would handle the connection.
The big three U.S. wireless providers each have over 100 million subscribers, dwarfing Boost Mobile's customer base.