欧洲最大电信网络之一的CEO目前对埃隆·马斯克的星链移动野心并不感到压力。“如果他有钱，尽管去搞吧，”德国电信CEO蒂姆·赫特格斯周四在公司第三季度财报电话会上表示。“我的评估是，SpaceX至少如果想进入该行业，至少需要2000亿欧元。”德国电信拥有T-Mobile US 55%的控股股份。与他在AT&T和Verizon的美国同行一样，赫特格斯表示，卫星网络不足以应对消费者在发达地区习惯的那种移动覆盖。“如果你离天线只有10米或100米，为什么要上下往返400公里？”他问道。
The CEO of one of Europe's largest telecom networks is not stressed about Elon Musk's Starlink mobile ambitions — yet. "If he has the money, go for it," Deutsche Telekom CEO Tim Höttges said during the company's third-quarter earnings call Thursday. "My assessment is that SpaceX, at least, if they want to play in that industry, needs at least minimum €200 billion." Deutsche Telekom owns a 55% controlling share of T-Mobile US. Like his US counterparts at AT&T and Verizon, Höttges said that satellite-based networks aren't sufficient for handling the kind of mobile coverage that consumers have grown accustomed to in well-developed areas. "If you have an antenna 10 meters or 100 meters away from you, why should you go 400 kilometers up and down?" he asked.
老牌运营商的共识是，由数万座基站和数百兆赫频谱组成、历经多年建设的地面网络，是其服务唯一可行的竞争对手。“欢迎来参加派对，”赫特格斯说。
The consensus among established carriers is that terrestrial networks — made up of tens of thousands of towers and hundreds of megahertz of spectrum, developed over many years — are the only viable competition to their services. "Welcome to the party," Höttges said.
尽管如此，尽管他认为星链面临如此巨大的财务和基础设施障碍，赫特格斯并未放松对马斯克的关注。“SpaceX正在创造一个新品类，”他说。在马斯克拥有的芯片、数据中心、AI平台和卫星之间，未来五到十年内有机会创建一种新型的垂直整合通信公司。毕竟，这是特斯拉故事的一个教训。”这就是为什么我说我非常重视此事，因为我亲眼目睹了汽车行业发生的事情，”赫特格斯说。“他们忽视得太久了，我们必须面对现实。”
Still, even though he believes Starlink faces such massive financial and infrastructural hurdles, Höttges is not taking his eye off Musk. "SpaceX is creating a new category," he said. Between the chipsets, data centers, AI platforms, and satellites Musk owns, there's an opportunity to create a new kind of vertically integrated communications company in the next five to ten years, he said. After all, that's one lesson of the Tesla story. "That is why I'm saying I take that super serious, because I was witnessing what happened to the car industry," Höttges said. "They were ignoring it for too long, and we have to face the situation."