Deutsche Telekom, Orange, Telefónica and Vodafone are studying a joint application for mobile satellite frequencies in Europe. The four groups plan to pool land infrastructure and rely on a space partner. This alliance poses an industrial question: who will control the service when the mobile network also passes through space?
If they fiercely compete for subscribers, corporate contracts and quality of coverage, to prepare their access to space, Deutsche Telekom, Orange, Telefónica and Vodafone are considering alliance. The four groups announced that they had signed a letter of intent to study a joint application for the future European allocation of frequencies for mobile satellite services.
The operators plan to establish terrestrial infrastructure and critical coordination and supervision functions in Europe, while a partner yet to be selected would provide the constellation.
By taking a position together, telecoms seek to influence the conditions of access to a new infrastructure and its integration into their offers. Their ability to maintain the relationship with the subscriber, negotiate space capacity and guarantee continuity of service is of course at the heart of the approach.
A new layer of coverage to integrate into packages
Direct-to-Device, or D2D, must allow a compatible device to communicate directly with a satellite. For the user, the interest is to find a connection where the terrestrial network is lacking, without installing a separate satellite terminal. Messages, calls and data exchanges, however, correspond to different levels of service, depending on the satellites, frequencies and equipment used.
For an operator, this additional coverage makes it possible to enrich a package, differentiate a professional offer or help retain subscribers. The economic question then consists of determining what value customers place on a connection used occasionally, and what part of this value will remunerate the space provider.
Pool resources, organize access for competitors
The four groups would bring their infrastructure, operating expertise and market access. Their merger could aggregate demand and strengthen their position in negotiations with a satellite supplier; it would also make it possible to share certain resources necessary for the integration of satellite into mobile networks.
Operators promise open and non-discriminatory access to other mobile networks, notably those of Free and Bouygues Telecom. This orientation outlines a wholesale capacity provision model, likely to feed the offers of other operators and, depending on commercial and technical agreements, those of MVNOs and specialized connectivity providers.
This opening would provide an access route to Free and Bouygues Telecom. In January 2026, Pascal Mayeux, director of the Free core network, explained to our colleagues at Frandroid that the operator was delaying, judging the uses were still limited for the general public, while mentioning initial exchanges with satellite players. To offer a direct connection to smartphones, these groups could buy capacity from the future consortium or negotiate with other suppliers.
Brussels uses frequencies to structure the market
The cooperation is part of the European desire to control its satellite infrastructures and the reorganization of the 2 GHz band, the current rights to use this band, held by Viasat and EchoStar, expiring in May 2027.
The text remains a legislative proposal and provides for a possible two-year transitional extension of existing rights.
According to the Financial Timesthe European project arouses strong American objections and threats of reprisals. This tension concerns the conditions of access to the European market and the instruments that the Union intends to use to reduce its dependencies.
Alliances that intersect around Starlink and AST SpaceMobile
The competition cannot be reduced to two watertight camps. Deutsche Telekom has already announced a partnership with Starlink to directly connect compatible smartphones, with a planned launch in 2028 in several European markets. The letter of intent from the four groups explicitly preserves existing partnerships.
Vodafone, for its part, has Satellite Connect Europe, a joint venture with AST SpaceMobile, based in Luxembourg. Orange also announced cooperation with these two players, including voice, SMS and data demonstrations in Romania in the second half of 2026.
Finally, Eutelsat and its OneWeb constellation constitute another element of the European landscape. Their high-speed network uses dedicated terminals, and this architecture must be distinguished for the moment from that which allows a direct connection with a smartphone.
Sovereignty will be clarified in the rights of control
The consortium highlights European governance and the establishment of critical functions on the continent. Who will order the service, allocate the capacity, control the keys and can decide on an interruption, discussions between the protagonists are likely to be heated before finding a compromise.
Vodafone and AST SpaceMobile have already presented a project for an operations center in Germany and a European control mechanism including keys and satellite functions. These provisions show the means that can be mobilized to organize local control, even when several companies and jurisdictions are involved in the chain.
It will also be necessary to assess the continuity of the service: guarantees in the event of disagreement with the supplier, control of updates and the possibility of switching to another solution. Starshield’s restrictions in Ukraine, reported by Reuters in October, are a reminder of the importance of these dependencies.
A tension remains in the announcement: operators want to support the development of a European constellation, without investing directly in it as part of this alliance. Negotiations with the future space partner will have to reconcile the control of the service sought by telecoms and the interests of a supplier who must make its investments profitable. Revenue sharing, capacity purchase commitments and control rights will determine the balance of this cooperation.
The next test will be that of commitments
With the choice of space partner, intentions must be translated into commitments: what capacity will be available, in which territories and at what price? The four groups will have to agree on investments, technical architecture and service guarantees, while obtaining the necessary authorizations. The economic equation will be delicate: financing an infrastructure whose value lies in its availability, while certain subscribers will only use it occasionally.
By bringing together their demands, operators could strengthen their negotiating power against satellite providers. This advantage must be reflected in the offers: sufficiently reliable coverage, clear access conditions and a price which allows the service to find its place in the packages.
For the subscriber, the promise comes down to a familiar gesture: being able to continue using their phone when the land network disappears. The fluidity of this transition will depend on much less visible agreements, which will set the reserved capacities, the access priorities and the responsibilities of each person when the connection fails.
