Europe's telecoms take on Starlink after Ukraine internet slowdown
Ukranian soldiers working Starlink terminal James Warrington Mon, October 19, 2026 at 6:36 PM GMT+1 3 min readEurope's biggest telecoms companies are teaming up for a new satellite mobile venture to challenge the dominance of Elon Musk's Starlink.
Deutsche Telekom, Orange, Telefonica and Vodafone are exploring a potential joint venture for the mobile spectrum required to beam mobile phone signals down to Europe from orbiting satellites.
The initiative came amid growing wariness in Europe about relying on Starlink after operator SpaceX last week imposed speed restrictions in Ukraine. The curbs dealt a major setback to the country's ability to use drones to defend itself from Russian attacks.
The European tie-up would give the companies the combined power to compete against Starlink, which has already begun offering "direct-to-device" services from its constellation of thousands of satellites.
Bosses said the joint venture would help to boost the Continent's security and resilience in critical communications networks, adding that it would "ensure responsible European governance of key space infrastructure".
US companies have been leading the development of satellite mobile technology, triggering fears that a handful of US billionaires could end up with control of Europe's critical infrastructure.
Mr Musk's erratic leadership of Starlink has fuelled particular concern, given the key role the technology has played during the war in Ukraine.
The Telegraph revealed that Mr Musk approached Donald Trump with the idea of introducing speed limits, contrary to his previous claims that the US president imposed the clampdown.
Mr Musk's Starlink dominates the satellite internet market, though Jeff Bezos has also invested heavily in his own satellite mobile company Amazon Leo.
Under the new joint venture, the European companies would develop the necessary ground infrastructure but would not invest directly in a satellite constellation itself.
This would be provided by a satellite partner, which has yet to be selected. France's Eutelsat is the major European satellite operator.
Under the joint proposal, the European companies will rent satellite coverage to other mobile networks, allowing them to sell it to customers who can receive internet directly to their smartphones.
The EU is preparing new rules governing access to satellite mobile spectrum for use when current licences expire next year.
Under current proposals, a third of the spectrum would be reserved for critical government communications, while another third would be for commercial use by European operators. The final third would be open to international companies.
The UK has already raced ahead after Ofcom last year authorised operators to provide direct-to-device satellite services.
Virgin Media O2, which is jointly owned by Telefónica and Liberty Global, has already switched on its satellite mobile service, which is available to customers for an extra £3 a month.
Vodafone plans to offer satellite services through its joint venture with Texas-based AST SpaceMobile, while BT is exploring a similar tie-up with Starlink for its mobile network EE. Amazon Leo is preparing to launch its own service in the UK by next year.
Satellite technology has been touted as a solution to Britain's patchy mobile coverage as it allows operators to provide services to remote areas too difficult or costly to reach with conventional infrastructure.
Starlink has also been lined up to tackle poor signal on trains, while government officials are exploring its potential use in the emergency communications network used by Britain's police, ambulance and fire services.
However, government advisers have raised concerns about relying on the US for critical services.
The Council for Science and Technology on Monday said Britain should develop alternatives to systems from companies such as OpenAI, Anthropic and Google to ensure technological "sovereignty".
It said this could include developing a British AI system, which has been proposed by the Alan Turing Institute.
The council, which is chaired by Dame Angela McLean, the Government's chief scientific adviser, said: "The UK must maintain access to leading global AI capabilities while building selected capabilities that strengthen independence, resilience and future choice."
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