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Home – Big Tech News – Elon Musk Should Reach for the Next Frontier—Not Buy the Last One

Elon Musk Should Reach for the Next Frontier—Not Buy the Last One

Elon Musk has built his career by refusing to compete on yesterday’s terms.

Tesla did not set out merely to manufacture a slightly better gasoline-powered automobile. SpaceX did not attempt to become another conventional aerospace contractor. Both companies challenged the basic assumptions of established industries—and forced the world to imagine what could come next.

That is why recent speculation that SpaceX might acquire a major terrestrial telecommunications company is so uninspiring.

SpaceX is clearly serious about communications. Its multibillion-dollar purchase of wireless spectrum and Starlink’s expanding direct-to-device capabilities demonstrate that. Connecting ordinary phones through satellites could help eliminate dead zones and bring service to rural and remote communities. That is precisely the kind of technological leap we should expect from Musk.

But purchasing an established wireless carrier would be something entirely different. It would pull SpaceX backward into the capital-intensive, highly regulated and operationally complex business of maintaining terrestrial networks, retail stores, billing systems, and millions of conventional customer accounts.

America’s telecommunications companies perform an essential role. They have invested hundreds of billions of dollars building the fiber and wireless infrastructure on which our economy depends. Their networks connect families,........

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