The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) on April 1, 2024 approved EchoStar’s sale of spectrum licenses to AT&T and SpaceX, the operator of Starlink, for a combined total of $40 billion.
The approval came via orders issued by the FCC’s Wireless Telecommunications Bureau and Space Bureau. The decision aligns with FCC Chairman Brendan Carr’s prior actions, which pressured EchoStar to divest the licenses after SpaceX alleged that EchoStar subsidiary Dish Network “barely uses” the spectrum to deliver mobile service to U.S. consumers.
Dish Network had secured a deadline extension for its network deployment obligations from the Biden-era FCC. Carr publicly opposed the extension, arguing it undermined spectrum efficiency. Following his threat to revoke the licenses, EchoStar, led by Chairman Charlie Ergen, finalized agreements to sell the spectrum licenses: $17 billion to SpaceX and $23 billion to AT&T.
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