AT&T to to buy spectrum Licenses from EchoStar for $23 billion
Executive Summary:
Embattled EchoStar Corp, parent company of Dish Network [1.], has agreed to sell spectrum licenses to AT&T Inc. for about $23 billion in a deal that will help the company stay out of bankruptcy and fend off regulatory concerns about its airwave use. The sale will expand AT&T’s wireless network and add about 50 MHz of low-band and mid-band spectrum in an all-cash transaction, the Dallas, Texas-based telecommunications company said in a statement on Tuesday. The deal is expected to close by mid-2026, pending regulatory approval.
Note 1. Dish Network is one of only two U.S. wireless telcos that have commercially deployed 5G SA core network on Amazon’s AWS public cloud.. The EchoStar subsidiary has also deployed 5G OpenRAN.
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Key Takeaways:
- $23 billion acquisition will add an average of approximately 50 MHz of low-band and mid-band spectrum to AT&T’s holdings – covering virtually every market across the U.S. and positioning AT&T to maintain long-term leadership in advanced connectivity across 5G and fiber
- Transaction powers improved and capital-efficient long-term growth by accelerating the Company’s ability to add converged subscribers with both 5G wireless and home internet services in more places
- Leading AT&T network will enable continued EchoStar participation in wireless industry through long-term wholesale network services agreement
AT&T said the acquisition of approximately 30 MHz of mid-band spectrum and 20 MHz of low-band spectrum will strengthen the company’s ability to deliver 5G and fiber services across the US. EchoStar will operate in the US market as a hybrid mobile network operator under its Boost brand, the company said in the statement. AT&T will be its primary network partner for wireless service. AT&T has been spending heavily to expand its fiber-optic network across the country and previously said it would use cash savings from Trump’s tax and spending bill to accelerate those plans. In May, it agreed to buy the consumer fiber operations of Lumen Technologies Inc. for $5.75 billion, expanding its fast broadband service in major cities like Denver and Las Vegas. AT&T intends to finance the EchoStar deal with a combination of cash on hand and borrowings. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. advised AT&T on the EchoStar acquisition.
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Backgrounder:
Federal regulators have been pushing EchoStar to sell some of its airwaves after concerns it had failed to put valuable slices of wireless spectrum to use, Bloomberg reported in July. The FCC launched an investigation in May into whether EchoStar was meeting its obligations for its wireless and satellite spectrum rights. The company skipped bond payments and considered filing for bankruptcy, saying the probe had stymied its ability to make decisions about its 5G network. In a June meeting, first reported by Bloomberg, Trump urged EchoStar Chairman Charlie Ergen and FCC Chairman Brendan Carr to cut a deal to resolve the dispute. EchoStar shopped the assets to other would-be buyers, including Elon Musk’s Starlink, Bloomberg earlier reported.
The purchase price is $9 billion more than EchoStar paid for the spectrum and $5 billion more than the appraised value used in securitizing the assets, New Street Research’s Philip Burnett said in a research note Tuesday. While $1.5 billion shy of New Street’s valuation, he said the sale price was “nevertheless a great mark on value.”
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Quotes:
EchoStar CEO Ergen described the sale and related agreement to work with AT&T as “critical steps toward resolving the FCC’s spectrum utilization concerns.”
FCC spokesperson Katie Gorscak said “We appreciate the productive and ongoing discussions with the EchoStar team. The FCC will continue to focus on ensuring the beneficial use of scarce spectrum resources.”
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References:
https://finance.yahoo.com/news/t-buy-echostar-spectrum-licenses-160830548.html
https://about.att.com/story/2025/echostar.html
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