'You can't break the fundamental laws of physics': T-Mobile CFO says he's not worried about Elon Musk's cellular ambitions

Elon Musk's SpaceX has its sights set on the cellular market.

T-Mobile's CFO says he's not worried.

REUTERS/Steve Nesius SpaceX wants a piece of the cellphone market, but T-Mobile's CFO is far from concerned.

Peter Osvaldik said "everybody in the know" is "laughing" at parts of Starlink's plans.

While Starlink satellites provide coverage in remote areas, it faces different challenges in cities.

Elon Musk thinks Starlink can shake up the mobile industry, but a T-Mobile exec said its strategy should be laughed out of the room.

"It's not a competitive threat from a wireless perspective at all," T-Mobile CFO Peter Osvaldik said Wednesday at Citi's 2026 Global TMT Conference.

"If we, as a management team, over the course of two months, changed the strategy to how we're going to roll out a wireless network like a dozen times, it would laugh us out of the room and kick me out of the management team appropriately." Musk and SpaceX President Gwynne Shotwell outlined their goals for Starlink Mobile in the company's first earnings call in early August.

The Big Three telecoms firms — AT&T, Verizon, and T-Mobile — make about $600 billion a year in revenue.

"I anticipate us to be able to acquire quite a few of their customers because I think our service will be better," Shotwell said.

She pointed to Starlink's ability to "eliminate dead zones" and provide coverage in remote areas through its satellites.

It has 650 direct-to-cell satellites in orbit, as well as its flagship constellation of over 10,000 satellites for broadband internet.

However, for urban areas, satellites aren't as useful as cell towers.

Starlink's satellites operate in low Earth orbit, a few hundred miles above the planet, which means their signals reach cellphones quickly — though these signals can be blocked by typical city infrastructure.