EchoStar is selling $23 billion worth of its spectrum licenses to AT&T as it begins decommissioning parts of Boost Mobile\u2019s network.<\/h5>\n\n\n\n
By Emma Roth<\/p>\n\n\n\n is a news writer who covers the streaming wars, consumer tech, crypto, social media, and much more. Previously, she was a writer and editor at MUO.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Dish\u2019s parent company, EchoStar, is selling a broad swath of its 5G spectrum licenses to AT&T for $23 billion. Under the deal<\/a>, the Dish-owned Boost Mobile will primarily operate using AT&T\u2019s growing network \u2014 a move that marks \u201cthe end of the road for the fourth carrier,\u201d says Roger Entner, founder and lead analyst at Recon Analytics.<\/p>\n\n\n\n As part of T-Mobile\u2019s deal to acquire Sprint in 2019, the Department of Justice stipulated that another company must replace it as the fourth major wireless carrier<\/a>. Dish came forward to acquire Boost Mobile from Sprint<\/a>, paying $1.4 billion to purchase the budget carrier and other prepaid assets. Since then, Dish has spent billions<\/a> acquiring spectrum to build out its own 5G network<\/a>, which the company said was close to<\/a> reaching 80 percent of the US population as of last year, in line with the Federal Communications Commission\u2019s deadline to meet certain coverage requirements.<\/p>\n\n\n\n But Dish struggled to repay mounting debt, leading it to rejoin EchoStar<\/a>, the company it originally spun off from in 2008. And at the same time, it came under renewed pressure from the FCC to make use of its spectrum.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In April, the Elon Musk-owned SpaceX wrote a letter to the FCC saying EchoStar<\/a> \u201cbarely uses\u201d the AWS-4 (2GHz) spectrum band for satellite connectivity. Weeks later, FCC chair Brendan Carr opened an investigation<\/a> into EchoStar\u2019s 5G expansion, criticizing the company\u2019s slow buildout and claiming that it had lost Boost Mobile customers since its acquisition of the carrier. Carr also questioned EchoStar\u2019s use of the AWS-4 spectrum, which isn\u2019t included in its deal with AT&T.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In July, Carr said that he\u2019s not concerned with having a fourth mobile provider, saying during an open meeting that there isn\u2019t a \u201cmagic number\u201d of carriers needed in the US to maintain competition. \u201cWe\u2019re always looking at a confluence of different factors to make sure that there\u2019s sufficient competition,\u201d he said, as reported by Fierce Network<\/em><\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Now, EchoStar will become a hybrid mobile network operator, which is a carrier that operates on its own network, in addition to using other companies\u2019 infrastructure. As noted in the press release, Boost Mobile will provide connectivity through AT&T towers and the T-Mobile network. \u201cThis ensures the survival of Boost Mobile,\u201d Entner said. \u201cIt gives them money, but at the end, they don\u2019t have much of a network left.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n EchoStar says it will decommission parts of Boost Mobile\u2019s wireless network over time. It\u2019s not clear what will become of Project Genesis, Dish\u2019s 5G network that launched in beta<\/a> in 2022 and hasn\u2019t seen much movement since. \u201cEchoStar and Boost Mobile have met all of the FCC\u2019s network buildout milestones,\u201d Dish co-founder Charlie Ergen said in the press release. \u201cHowever, this spectrum sale to AT&T and hybrid MNO agreement are critical steps toward resolving the FCC\u2019s spectrum utilization concerns.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n![\"acastro_STK052_01\"\/](\"https:\/\/platform.theverge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/08\/acastro_STK052_01.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&crop=0%2C0%2C100%2C100&w=2400\")
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