AT&T Inc. (T) rarely makes big moves. On Friday, it faces its largest one-day loss in nearly 26 years.
Shares fell 11% to $22.14 at midday. The last larger drop was 12.7% on Dec. 19, 2000, when the company was called SBC Communications.
Space Exploration Technologies Corp. (SPCX) agreed Thursday to buy nationwide 800 megahertz spectrum licenses from Grain Management. The SpaceX spectrum deal needs Federal Communications Commission approval.
Low-band spectrum carries signals over long distances and into buildings. With it, SpaceX plans to extend its Starlink Mobile service from satellites to the ground.
That could put it in competition with AT&T and Verizon Communications Inc. (VZ), which fell 11%.
AT&T CEO John Stankey has downplayed the threat, saying satellite direct-to-cell is "solving the last 2%, not trying to come up with a new way to solve the 98%."
