Verizon shares dropped 3.6% to $45.19 in after-hours trading, while AT&T fell 2.7% to $22.75 and T-Mobile slid 2.4% to $172.90. The sell-off was triggered by Gwynne Shotwell, president and COO of SpaceX, who stated on a Tuesday call that the company expects to win over a portion of the telecom giants' user base, claiming their service will offer superior performance.

This marks one of the most direct challenges to the established telecommunications industry to date. SpaceX has already secured 65 megahertz of spectrum through agreements with EchoStar and intends to begin launching satellites specifically for mobile connectivity next year. These comments confirm earlier reports that the company is actively developing a ground-based mobile network to compete directly with major U.S. carriers.