Telecom & Cable: Starlink - A Comet Bearing Down on Incumbents?

Research evidence excerpt

Telecom & Cable: Starlink - A Comet Bearing Down on Incumbents?

Media, Entertainment & Telecom

Telecom - Market Weight

TELECOM June 5, 2026

Telecom & Cable: Starlink - A Comet Bearing Down on

Incumbents?

The Wolfe Byte

Starlink is going mainstream. We use Starlink's S-1 to sketch out competitive risks Peter Supino

for our mobile & cable network operators. In broadband, potential 2030 capacity psupino@wolferesearch.com (646) 582-9330

could serve ~40% of US HHs. In mobile, steps towards a terrestrial network could View Peter’s Research

shake loose an MVNO deal. View Comp Table

Torrey Jacobson-Evans

tjacobsonevans@wolferesearch.com

Note: this report is not a SpaceX coverage initiation. This report analyzes Starlink 646-582-9333

as a competitive risk for US telecom & cable stocks. This report does not provide Ronald Song

official Wolfe Research estimates for Starlink, nor SpaceX. rsong@wolferesearch.com

(646) 582-9327

A comet bearing down on broadband incumbents: For years, Starlink has been

Logan Angress, CFA

understood by Wall Street as a rural broadband solution, and unknown to most langress@wolferesearch.com

consumers. No longer - Starlink’s advances in satellite technology and launch capacity Steven Sheeckutz

have accelerated capacity growth and marketing investments. We see Starlink's ssheeckutz@wolferesearch.com

likely impact as functionally equivalent to a 4th FWA provider. Notably, 9% of

respondents to the 2026 Wolfe Connectivity Survey perceive Starlink's broadband

service as "superior". Starlink's capacity expansion has spurred changes in US pricing

and marketing that have attracted subscribers in suburban and urban markets. V3

satellites x Starship’s capacity could accelerate US broadband capacity growth by

~22x per rocket launch.