What you need to know about AT&T's spectrum deal with EchoStar

EchoStar is hoping to put its beef with the Federal Communications Commission to bed via the sale of its 600MHz and 3.45GHz spectrum licenses to incumbent rival AT&T for $23 billion in a deal expected to close in mid-2026. "EchoStar and Boost Mobile have met all of the FCC's network buildout milestones. However, this spectrum sale to AT&T and hybrid MNO agreement are critical steps toward resolving the FCC's spectrum utilization concerns," EchoStar Co-founder and Chairman Charlie Ergen said in a statement. The deal will net AT&T a 30MHz chunk of mid-band 3.45GHz spectrum as well as a 20MHz swath of low-band 600MHz airwaves. Together, the licenses cover 400 markets across the U.S. While it's hard to imagine how EchoStar's Boost Mobile brand will continue to compete in the wireless market without spectrum, it doesn't appear to be going anywhere. The operators have struck a hybrid MNO deal that will allow Boost to continue operating using a combination of its own cloud-native 5G core and AT&T's cell sites.