Starlink's subscriber count passes AT&T's fiber connections, by the companies' own Sept. 30 figures

As of 2:40 p.m. ET, Oct. 26, 2026

By the companies' own reported counts, SpaceX's Starlink satellite internet service had more consumer subscribers on Sept. 30, 2026, than AT&T had fiber internet connections. But the two numbers count different things.

SpaceX reported 13.6 million Starlink consumer subscribers worldwide as of Sept. 30, up from 7.2 million a year earlier, in its quarterly report filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on Oct. 22. AT&T reported 13.31 million fiber connections as of the same date, up from 10.79 million, in third-quarter results filed with the SEC on Oct. 21. That total includes 12.56 million consumer AT&T Fiber connections and 750,000 business fiber connections.

On those totals, Starlink is ahead by about 290,000. SpaceX rounds its figure to one decimal place, so the actual gap could be anywhere from about 240,000 to 340,000. Compared with AT&T's consumer fiber count alone, Starlink's lead is about 1 million.

The numbers are not a like-for-like comparison. Starlink's count is global: SpaceX says its network serves customers in 174 countries, territories and other markets, and its filing does not say how many of the 13.6 million are in the United States. AT&T's fiber connections are in the U.S.

SpaceX also counts service lines, not households. Its filing says one household with both a residential plan and a separate roam plan counts as two subscribers. The count includes some business plans bought directly on Starlink.com but leaves out managed enterprise and government contracts, such as those for airlines and ships.

Fiber is also only one part of AT&T. The company reported 16.25 million total internet connections as of Sept. 30, including 2.94 million fixed wireless connections, which is more than Starlink's consumer count. It also runs a large wireless phone business.

Starlink's growth has come partly from cheaper plans. Its average monthly revenue per consumer subscriber fell to $69 in the third quarter from $83 a year earlier, which SpaceX attributed to expanding internationally and adding "lower-priced service plans." Starlink added 1.6 million subscribers in the quarter, Fierce Network reported, citing SpaceX's earnings call. AT&T added 442,000 fiber connections in the quarter, the company said.

The comparison spread on X over the weekend. Early Sunday, SpaceX CEO Elon Musk reposted a post from another user saying Starlink "just surpassed AT&T $T Fiber in subscribers." That post did not mention that the figures cover different markets and measure different things.