Vodafone, Orange, and others eye European Starlink alternative

• Deutsche Telekom, Orange, Telefonica, and Vodafone have signed a letter of intent to explore development of a European constellation
• This could work as an alternative to Starlink, and allow networks to plug coverage gaps with satellites
• However, they still need a satellite partner to deliver any such plan

Starlink has major mobile ambitions, seemingly seeing itself as a true rival to conventional carriers like Verizon and T-Mobile in the US. But over in Europe, mobile operators might look to offer a Starlink alternative.

Deutsche Telekom, Orange, Telefonica, and Vodafone have all signed a letter of intent to explore “a potential joint bid for the future allocation of spectrum for Mobile Satellite Services (MSS) in Europe.”

So, in other words, they might work together to allocate spectrum to a satellite-based connectivity service aimed at increasing their coverage in areas where masts and other ground-based infrastructure don’t currently reach.

Such a service would put them in direct competition with Starlink, which has partnered with the likes of T-Mobile in the US and O2 in the UK to plug coverage gaps in their networks, and which has ambitions to launch a standalone carrier.

A long way off

(Image credit: Vodafone)

But it’s still very early days for this European initiative. The letter of intent is simply to explore a potential bid — wording which suggests nothing is very set in stone. And even if these carriers do jointly allocate this spectrum, they still need to “establish key ground network infrastructure” to go along with it.

And most importantly of all, they need access to a satellite constellation, and while part of the intent here is to “support the development of a European constellation,” they don’t actually plan to build a constellation themselves; rather, they’re looking for a satellite partner.

So don’t expect to see a European Starlink alternative anytime soon, but it’s sounding like there might be one at some point in the future — and this is a move that would make sense, given Europe’s ongoing attempt to lessen its reliance on US services.