American telecom AT&T has completed its acquisition of certain wireless spectrum licenses from EchoStar for about $23 billion.
AT&T initially said it would acquire about 50 MHz of nationwide spectrum from EchoStar in August 2025. The acquired spectrum covers every market across the U.S., the company said.
Under the acquisition, AT&T adds about 30 MHz of nationwide 3.45 GHz mid-band spectrum and about 20 MHz of nationwide 600 MHz low-band spectrum.
AT&T will use the spectrum to expand its portfolio and access to fixed wireless access (FWA) broadband technologies, known as AT&T Internet Air, the company said.
This comes as AT&T recently said that it has added its second million of AT&T Internet Air subscribers in just about a year, after taking roughly two years to reach its first 1 million subscribers.
The company said the spectrum will help boost its 5G capacity and download speeds but also help with AI-ready connected experiences for consumers as it uses the spectrum to provide superior uplink capabilities to AT&T's wireless network.
SpaceX next?
After AT&T announced its acquisition of the spectrum, Elon Musk's SpaceX agreed to buy EchoStar's AWS-4 and H-block spectrum for about $17 billion.
The move will allow SpaceX to directly offer next-generation Starlink direct-to-cell (D2C) technology complete with 5G protocols.
The move raised speculation among analysts that SpaceX could use the spectrum to become another cellular company in the U.S., something EchoStar originally had ambitions to do.
SpaceX said the agreement to buy the spectrum would allow it to develop and deploy a next-generation Starlink D2C constellation. This would allow the company to provide broadband service to cell phones globally. Additionally, it is now the largest 4G coverage provider on Earth, connecting with 6 million users, SpaceX said.
However, as it stands now, it remains to be seen if SpaceX will be a complementary force for U.S. telecoms or become a direct competitor.
