Four of Europe's largest mobile telecoms operators have signed a Letter of Intent to explore a potential joint bid for the future allocation of spectrum for Mobile Satellite Services (MSS) in Europe.

Announced today (October 19), Deutsche Telekom, Orange, Telefónica, and Vodafone have penned the letter as part of an effort to "strengthen Europe’s sovereignty, security and resilience in critical connectivity infrastructure."

Such a move mirrors the European Commission's efforts to promote a more sovereign approach to satellite connectivity, while also promoting competition against Elon Musk's Starlink constellation.

The announcement comes weeks after reports detailed that the four carriers were plotting to create a consortium to bid on satellite spectrum and offer direct-to-mobile service on the continent.

According to the announcement put out by the four carriers, the potential joint bid would "ensure responsible European governance of key space infrastructure," while providing all MNOs with open and non-discriminatory access to offer Direct-to-Device (D2D) services to their customers.

"These services would be offered through a model designed to foster competition, reduce market fragmentation and expand consumer choice across Europe," said the telcos. "By combining the operators’ extensive customer reach, network capabilities and operational expertise, the initiative could accelerate market deployment, enable efficient use of spectrum and facilitate the seamless integration of satellite connectivity into existing mobile networks."

The carriers were keen to point out that this joint effort wouldn't impact any existing satellite partnerships that any of the operators have.

The main ambition of the joint effort would be to bolster coverage in underserved areas, strengthen the resilience of public networks, protect critical communications, and support the development of a European constellation.

The four operators plan to set up key ground network infrastructure plus critical coordination and monitoring functions in Europe, without investing directly in a satellite constellation. This will be provided by a satellite partner still to be selected.