DT’s CEO Höttges plays down Starlink threat

• Tim Höttges used Deutsche Telekom’s earnings call to downplay satellite threat
• Says terrestrial mobile operators maintain significant advantages
• Comments come among Starlink’s ambitions to compete directly with telcos 
• DT posted strong quarterly results with strong revenue and earnings growth

Deutsche Telekom’s CEO has hit out at the market over speculation that Starlink could provide a better service than existing mobile operators and surpass terrestrial telecom providers as the main provider of connectivity services, labelling some recent claims “far-fetched and conceptual”.

Speaking during the German telco’s second quarter earnings call, Tim Höttges was asked about Elon Musk’s recently stated ambition to turn Starlink into a communications provider offering connectivity that is “better and higher bandwidth than what is currently available from cellular providers”.

Höttges explained that Deutsche Telekom – which is the majority owner of T-Mobile US – takes Musk’s ambitions “very seriously” but admitted that he was “very irritated” by the market reaction to some of the SpaceX’s founder’s claims. He pointed specifically to claims around small cells and femtocell technology and mesh networks. “There are a lot of buzzwords flying around these days,” he added. “There is a business for broadband services in rural areas, where coverage is bad, but it isn’t as good as fibre. I am surprised by the amount of overbuild of satellites, but with [Amazon] Leo and AST [SpaceMobile], there will be a lot of competition in that market.”

Deutsche Telekom has already brokered partnership deals with SpaceX. T-Mobile US offers a direct-to-device (D2D) service (T-Satellite), launched last year, using connectivity provided by Starlink Mobile, while Deutsche Telekom has signed up to offer D2D services using Starlink Mobile’s next generation of low-earth orbit (LEO) satellites starting in 2028. 

Earlier this year, DT launched a Starlink satellite broadband service for business customers, using the regular broadband dish connectivity rather than D2D connectivity, though it also has agreements with the likes of Iridium, Skylo and Sateliot across IoT and broadband services.

Höttges concluded: “Satellite communications will expand coverage to areas that are underserved and both Deutsche Telekom and T-Mobile are well positioned to integrate satellite capabilities when they improve the customer proposition. We already have deals in place both in Europe and in the US. But high capacity terrestrial networks retain significant structural advantages in dense environments. No question – capacity, indoor coverage, latency, simultaneous usage and the cost per gigabyte are advantageous compared to satellite services. For us, it is not about dismissing the technology but to keep extending our own advantages… in spectrum leadership, which is critical, and network density.”

Strong quarter

Höttges shared his views during an analyst call as Deutsche Telekom reported its latest financial results, which included details for its second quarter performance as well as for the first half of 2026. 

During the quarter, the German operator reported year on year net revenue growth of 3.3% to €29.9bn, while its adjusted EBITDAal (EBITDA after leases) grew by 7.3% to €11.8bn.

“Our operations continue to perform well,” noted Höttges. “All areas of the Group are once again delivering impressive growth in the first half of 2026.”

In the second quarter, Telekom recorded 218,000 new postpaid customers in its home market. It revealed that fibre penetration in Germany was up by 11%, now passing 13.6 million homes (compared with 11.1m in the equivalent quarter) in Germany, and 25.3 million across its EU operations.

DT’s 5G coverage in Europe also grew, from covering 82% of the population at the end of H1 2025 to 94% by the end of June this year. 

In the US, T-Mobile – in which DT owns a 54.3% stake – saw its postpaid subscriber net adds drop to 494,000. Its total base sits at 34.7 million, up from 34.4 million in Q1 2026, while postpaid ARPA (average revenue per account) was $153, up from $150 in the same quarter of the previous year.

Commenting on the results, PP Foresight analyst Paolo Pescatore said it had been an impressive quarter for the German telco, with notably strong performance from its TV arm MagentaTV driven by the 2026 World Cup. In Germany, Deutsche Telekom broadcast all matches on its streaming service, seeing around 1 million new customers sign up to receive the service.

Pescatore noted: “T-Mobile US remains the Group’s financial powerhouse, but performance in Germany was particularly encouraging. MagentaTV was the standout, with the World Cup demonstrating how premium live sport can drive customer acquisition, strengthen engagement and serve as a gateway to Deutsche Telekom’s wider suite of connectivity services.

“The strategic challenge now is to retain these viewers beyond the tournament and convert short-term interest into longer-term TV, fibre and converged relationships. More broadly, the results demonstrate Deutsche Telekom’s financial strength and its ability to invest across networks, content, cloud and AI while continuing to reward shareholders.”

- James Pearce, Editor, TelecomTV