Amazon is buying Globalstar for $10.8 billion to $11.57 billion depending on valuation basis, and the headline is about direct phone-to-satellite connections. The real story is spectrum.
Globalstar holds a Mobile Satellite Services license — a piece of federally regulated radio spectrum that is the fundamental prerequisite for operating a direct-to-device satellite network in the United States and internationally. Amazon has the capital, the launch capacity (via Blue Origin and contracted providers), and the satellite manufacturing capability. What it did not have was the spectrum. Buying Globalstar solves that problem in a single transaction.
The acquisition, announced April 14, gives Amazon control of Globalstar's satellite operations, infrastructure, and globally licensed mobile satellite services network. It also preserves — and deepens — a critical existing customer relationship: Apple. Greg Joswiak, Apple's senior vice president of worldwide product marketing, issued a statement saying Apple and Amazon have "a long and proven track record of working together" and that Amazon Leo would ensure users continue to have access to Emergency SOS, Messages, Find My, and Roadside Assistance via satellite.
That statement is notable. Apple had options in the direct-to-device market. AST SpaceMobile has been building its own constellation and has a formal agreement with AT&T. Starlink is running a D2D pilot with T-Mobile. Apple chose to anchor itself to Amazon's constellation instead, signing a long-term agreement that puts Amazon Leo at the center of iPhone and Apple Watch satellite services.
Amazon said its own D2D system would expand beyond Apple's existing emergency messaging to support voice and data — something neither Starlink nor AST currently offers in commercial D2D form. The company did not detail expected performance figures or compare its planned capabilities to rivals.
The deal is valued at approximately $10.8 billion to $11.57 billion depending on the valuation basis per SpaceNews and Reuters respectively. Amazon expects to close in 2027, pending regulatory approvals in multiple jurisdictions and conditions that include progress on Globalstar's HIBLEO-4 replacement satellites — the operational constellation that underpins Apple's existing services.
Shareholders representing about 58% of Globalstar's voting power have already approved the transaction, which reduces regulatory execution risk but does not eliminate it. Mobile satellite services licenses require change-of-control approvals from the FCC and telecommunications regulators in other countries where Globalstar holds licensed spectrum.
The competitive picture is now clearer. Amazon Leo plus Globalstar's L-band spectrum puts Amazon in direct competition with Starlink's D2D ambitions and AST SpaceMobile's deployed-but-not-yet-commercial network. The L-band spectrum that Amazon acquired is particularly valuable for D2D applications because it operates at frequencies adjacent to cellular bands, causes minimal interference with terrestrial networks, and penetrates buildings better than higher-frequency alternatives. That is why Globalstar has been able to maintain a viable satellite-phone and SOS service for two decades — and why Amazon was willing to pay $10.8 billion to acquire it rather than wait for its own constellation to reach that spectrum position.
The question is what happens to the other players. AST SpaceMobile now faces a market where its primary potential customer for D2D services — Apple — is locked into Amazon Leo. Starlink's relationship with T-Mobile remains intact, but T-Mobile's subscriber base is not the same as Apple's global installed base of iPhone users. Amazon has bought itself a shortcut in the D2D race and a captive anchor tenant at the same time.
