Starlink Mobile to deploy tens of thousands of 5G sites

Qualcomm and SpaceX announced on Wednesday that Starlink Mobile will begin deploying its nationwide US cellular network in 2027, setting up a new challenger to AT&T, T-Mobile and Verizon.SpaceX plans to start the US deployment in 2027, with tens of thousands of sites built over a multi-year agreement.

Neither company disclosed financial terms.It is not clear whether or not you could have signed up as a user then.

The press release focuses on infrastructure rather than consumer packages.The Starlink Mobile service will be supported by Qualcomm's Dragonwing QRU100 and QDU100 platforms.

The QRU100 takes care of the processing within the radio units, whereas the QDU100 takes care of the Layer 1 processing.The radios will employ massive MIMO with 64 transmit and 64 receive channels, which is 64T64R technology.

This allows one site to serve more people simultaneously.

This is a precursor to 6G, according to Qualcomm.Starlink executive Michael Nicolls says the company is building the first fully integrated nationwide satellite and terrestrial network.

His argument is blunt: calls shouldn't still drop at home or on the move.The pitch is one network that keeps working where towers alone struggle.

Qualcomm's chips handle the tower half of it.

Starlink Mobile to deploy tens of thousands of 5G sites November 5, 2026.