- Referring to May data, T-Mobile CEO Srini Gopalan revealed how much traffic is generated by T-Satellite
- The figure shows how satellite remains complementary to terrestrial wireless
- Both T-Mobile and Verizon CEOs were quizzed about the new D2D JV
T-Mobile President and CEO Srini Gopalan reiterated during a J.P. Morgan investor conference Monday afternoon that T-Satellite is unfolding like previous “un-carrier” moves, but he added a tiny bit more detail about its actual usage.
By tiny, we mean really tiny. He said that based on May data, the use of T-Satellite is about 0.0002% of its total network usage, proving that satellite direct-to-device (D2D) is a “fundamentally complementary” category to regular terrestrial mobile service.
His comments came as speculation runs high about the reasons behind the new joint venture that T-Mobile, AT&T and Verizon announced last week. Many observers sized the JV up as a defensive reaction to SpaceX/Starlink Mobile’s more aggressive moves into wireless, either by potentially building its own terrestrial network or striking an MVNO deal with one of the Big 3.
All three U.S. facilities-based carriers have said they’re not interested in striking an MVNO with SpaceX/Starlink, which, if it happened, would probably put a dagger into the heart of the current mobile phone industry. That is, basically killing it or turning it into a zombie.
Immediately after news of the D2D JV broke last week, some analysts brought up allegations of collusion on the part of the mobile operators, a reaction that SpaceX President Gwynne Shotwell and VP of Satellite Policy David Goldman seemed to glom onto. In fact, Goldman on social media cited a LightShed Partners blog titled: SpaceX Spooks the Telcos and Throws Towers a Bone, (registration required) that questions whether the Department of Justice (DoJ) will even allow the JV to happen.
Circling back to the minuscule usage of T-Satellite, Gopalan framed it similarly to what he said during his company’s Q1 2026 earnings call, where he described how T-Mobile likes to solve genuine problems for customers – in this case, dead zones – first and then watch its rivals follow.
Once it becomes a standard feature in most high-end plans from all the service providers, it’s no longer a source of differentiation. That’s where D2D is headed.
However, there are still real problems that need to be solved. The D2D JV is designed to address problems like combining spectrum resources and getting standards established in the device ecosystem.
Why spectrum pooling?
But if it makes up only 0.0002% of T-Mobile network usage, then why do they need spectrum?
“Because of the distribution of spectrum, I might own the right spectrum outside Zion National [Park] and Verizon might have it over Yellowstone, which doesn’t help the customer,” Gopalan said. “Bringing it together creates a uniform spectrum world” where they can pool the spectrum.
That creates a satellite ecosystem that allows American consumers to get wireless plus satellite as part of a standard package.
“We will compete, obviously, as providers in terms of how we innovate around that, but as we look around corners, the differentiation doesn't exist, and this is about creating an efficient wholesale infrastructure,” he said.
Verizon CEO: It’s about creating value
Gopalan’s statements about the JV align with what Verizon CEO Dan Schulman said earlier Monday at the same investor conference.
“We think that working together, we can create standards as opposed to being three sets of standards for all the different satellite players who work with us. Each of us will create our own unique value proposition, but we'll have a common set of standards that we can use across handsets,” Schulman said.
“We're excited about the JV,” he added. “We think it will eliminate a lot of dead zones. It'll create a lot of value for both the satellite companies and for the wireless providers.”
Schulman was asked about the general threat of D2D satellite providers going direct to consumers and bypassing terrestrial networks.
There are probably about 5 million homes in the U.S. that can be better served by satellite than a terrestrial network, which are “100 or maybe 1,000 times” more efficient than satellite in urban and suburban areas, he said.
“For us, the physics of satellite versus terrestrial are really kind of night and day,” he said. “For 95% plus of our customers, we see satellite as a complementary service and very, very hard to compete with terrestrial networks.”
The scuttlebutt over SpaceX/Starlink Mobile comes as SpaceX is preparing for a road show ahead of its IPO, which is expected to be the biggest ever, putting SpaceX’s valuation at about $1.75 trillion.