AT&T Buying EchoStar Spectrum for $23B
In the biggest wireless deal since T-Mobile bought Sprint, AT&T announced Tuesday it’s buying EchoStar spectrum for $23 billion. The deal 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,” AT&T said. Analysts were quick to see some big implications from the deal.
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AT&T’s now “in a stronger spectrum position relative to its primary mobile competitors,” New Street’s Blair Levin told investors. “This will have some subtle impact on the wireless industry’s pushing for accelerated spectrum auctions, likely increasing [Verizon’s] and [T-Mobile’s] motivations for pushing for more and sooner auctions while somewhat reducing [AT&T’s] interest in having such auctions sooner.”