WASHINGTON, Oct. 21, 2025 \u2013 AT&T\u2019s $23 billion spectrum purchase from EchoStar won\u2019t harm competition in the wireless industry, the companies told federal regulators.<\/p>\n
In August the companies inked a deal that would see AT&T scoop up EchoStar\u2019s 3.45 GigaHertz (GHz) and 600 MegaHertz (MHz) licenses. Along with another sale to SpaceX, it was part of an effort to resolve Federal Communications Commission probes into EchoStar\u2019s spectrum licenses \u2013 FCC Chairman Brendan Carr thought the company was warehousing airwaves.<\/p>\n
Under the deal, AT&T could lease the 3.45 GHz licenses until the transaction closes, allowing the carrier to light up the spectrum quicker because it already uses the band.<\/p>\n
The FCC will ultimately need to review and approve the sale and leasing arrangement \u2013 work that\u2019s delayed by the government shutdown \u2013 and the companies pitched<\/a> the transaction to the agency in a filing<\/a> received last month and posted Thursday.<\/p>\n They said the deal would make AT&T better able to compete with its fixed wireless service<\/a>, home broadband offered with excess spectrum capacity.<\/p>\n \u201cAT&T currently lacks sufficient spectrum in many places to offer a robust fixed wireless service and remains third in fixed wireless subscribers,\u201d the companies wrote. \u201cIn many places, EchoStar\u2019s spectrum will leave AT&T with sufficient capacity to support both fixed and mobile service, enabling AT&T to compete more directly with both T-Mobile and Verizon, as well as incumbent cable and other fixed broadband providers.\u201d<\/p>\n As of June 30, 2025, AT&T reported about 1 million fixed wireless subscribers, compared to T-Mobile\u2019s 7.3 million and Verizon\u2019s 5.1 million. AT&T had initially described the service as a means of keeping customers around while the company replaces outdated copper lines with fiber, but CFO Pascal Desroches said last month the company is going to start marketing the product more aggressively.<\/p>\n The companies said it would also boost AT&T\u2019s ability to compete for mobile subscribers, both with the other dominant carriers and with cable companies, which offer mobile plans through deals with Verizon and T-Mobile.<\/p>\n The agency agreed that the cable giants \u2013 which now count more than 18 million mobile lines \u2013 were putting competitive pressure on the major mobile providers when it approved T-Mobile\u2019s purchase of UScellular this summer. Rural carriers<\/a> and consumer advocates have urged<\/a> the FCC not to be so sure of that, arguing cable\u2019s success in the market is \u201centirely reliant on the will of the nationwide [carriers] to continue to allow them to compete.\u201d<\/p>\n