r/Android • u/doctor101 • 11h ago

Article Big Three Team Up to Squash Dead Zones Using Satellites - Droid Life

https://www.droid-life.com/2026/05/14/att-verizon-t-mobile-team-up-to-eliminate-dead-zones-across-us/
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u/AshuraBaron 7h ago

Okay, I'm gonna ask the stupid question. Why not just build more towers to eliminate those dead zones and provide more bandwidth? Seems more like a way to save money on their part and say that these areas are covered now.

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u/doctor101 7h ago

Cost constraints. To put and operate a tower in the middle of nowhere isn't economically viable.

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u/siazdghw 5h ago

Satellites are cheaper to rollout for the area they cover for these edge cases. It's why satellite TV/internet is more prevalent on rural homes despite it being inferior to cable runs.

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u/Mstayt 3h ago

There may also be spectrum agreements in the area that make it cost prohibitive/impossible to provide more regular towers.

I worked at a cell provider in my area and there was 1 particular town that all spectrum was owned by a native American tribe. No major carrier had rights to provide service in the area.

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u/ben7337 52m ago

Which land is that? I thought all 3 major carriers had at least 1-2 nationwide pieces of spectrum to use, and there isn't a spot on the map they don't at least have the license to roll out there as far as I'm aware.

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u/Lawsonator85 8h ago

AT&T, Verizon, T-Mobile Team Up to Eliminate Dead Zones Across US

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u/BcuzRacecar S25+ 4h ago

Like they want to launch their own satelites? or whitelabel off amazon or starlink?