Oct 9 (Reuters) – Shares of Deutsche Telekom were on track for their worst trading day in more than three years on Friday, after SpaceX on Thursday announced an agreement to buy a nationwide low-band spectrum license portfolio, enabling Starlink Mobile to become a major telecom operator in the US.
The German telecommunications group owns a 54% stake in T-Mobile US, which could be facing stiffer competition in the United States.
Deutsche Telekom shares, which have lost around a quarter of their value since a February high, were down 7% at 0919 GMT, at the bottom of Europe’s benchmark STOXX 600 index.
“We view the news as … an ongoing risk for the telecoms and cable stocks,” Citi analysts wrote in a note to investors, adding that the risk of SpaceX emerging as a facilities-based competitor has likely contributed to these stocks’ recent poor performance.
Stéphane Beyazian, analyst at ODDO BHF, expects SpaceX to be a “big contender” at the US Federal Communications Commission’s 2027 spectrum auction, a bidding sale of 160 megahertz of mid-band spectrum in the Upper C-Band.
However, he said Elon Musk’s company did not pose an imminent threat to Deutsche Telekom’s business.
“Without a roaming agreement with a partner, it will take years before Starlink can build and sell a good quality product,” Beyazian told Reuters.
(Reporting by Danny Callaghan in Gdansk, editing by Milla Nissi-Prussak)
