AT&T acquires $23 billion worth of spectrum licenses from EchoStar

AT&T is set to acquire $23 billion worth of spectrum licenses from EchoStar, the parent company of Dish Network, Sling TV and Boost Mobile. The deal will see AT&T gain control of approximately 50MHz of low-band and mid-band spectrum, which are frequencies commonly used in 5G and LTE networks.<br /> EchoStar had been under pressure from the FCC to build out the spectrum in its portfolio or consider divesting it. The FCC's regulations take a 'use it or lose it' approach to ensure that the spectrum licenses granted by the government actually lead to real service for customers and not spectrum warehousing.<br /> As part of the agreement, AT&T and EchoStar will add to their long-term wholesale network services agreement, allowing EchoStar to operate as a h [...]