Starlink Threat Sends Telecom Stocks Lower Premarket; VZ Falls 2.5%, T Down 2% on Wednesday

According to SpaceX President Gwynne Shotwell on the company's earnings call Wednesday, Starlink could acquire "quite a few" customers from the three largest U.S. wireless carriers—Verizon, AT&T, and T-Mobile. The statement triggered a selloff in premarket trading: Verizon shares fell 2.5%, AT&T dropped 2%, and T-Mobile declined 1%.

Despite the market reaction, executives at all three carriers have downplayed satellite as a competitive threat. Verizon CEO Hans Vestberg stated the company's terrestrial network is "100x to 1,000x more efficient" in densely populated markets, where nearly all its revenue originates. AT&T CEO John Stankey noted satellite providers face difficulty competing against decades of infrastructure investment. T-Mobile's Chief Operating Officer Srinivas Gopalan said the company's fixed wireless access service remains "far superior" to low-Earth orbit satellite for broadband.