T-Mobile says its direct-to-device joint venture with AT&T and Verizon is moving quickly toward a long-form agreement, but the carrier’s Starlink exclusivity does not end until sometime in 2027.
The carriers announced the JV plan in May as an agreement in principle. They have since said they intend to pool spectrum resources for direct-to-device services and build a unified platform for satellite operators to interconnect with terrestrial mobile networks.
How the JV is supposed to work
Srini Gopalan said individual operators may still strike conversations and agreements with other parties, but he expects most business to be sourced through the JV. That gives the three-carrier structure room to centralize commercial access for satellite partners without closing the door on every outside deal.
Satellite on smartphones is still a niche for T-Mobile
Gopalan said satellite connectivity on smartphones will become table stakes for carriers as a complementary service. He also said T-Mobile’s Starlink-based T-Satellite service is used very little.
Satellite accounted for 0.0002% of T-Mobile’s network usage, rising to 0.0003% during the busiest summer months.
What the quarter showed beyond D2D
CFO Peter Osvaldik said fixed wireless access had another strong quarter in Q2 and total broadband additions were in the upper 400,000 range again. T-Mobile added 277,000 postpaid net accounts in Q2, up 27% from Q1 and down 13% from the previous year.
The carrier said the year-over-year decline in postpaid net accounts was affected by deactivations after the US Cellular acquisition and higher average broadband-only accounts. Postpaid average revenue per account increased 2% year over year to $152.91, while postpaid churn rose 7 basis points to 0.99% in Q2.
Service revenue increased 9% to $19 billion and postpaid service revenue increased 13% to $15.9 billion. T-Mobile reported adjusted EBITDA of $9.5 billion, up 11.6%, and raised free cash flow guidance to between $18.4 billion and $18.8 billion and operating cash flow guidance to between $28.4 billion and $28.8 billion.
Read for satellite and D2D buyers
The JV structure matters because T-Mobile, AT&T and Verizon want a shared commercial path for satellite operators rather than one-off sourcing on each carrier’s side. The Starlink tie-up still has time left, so the near-term market is not open in the way the JV discussion may suggest.
For buyers, the more immediate signal is that T-Mobile is treating satellite as additive rather than central to its usage mix, even as it keeps the D2D option open through the JV.