Unlock the Editor’s Digest for free
Roula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter.
Shares in EchoStar, the US telecommunications group whose slow progress building its mobile phone network attracted criticism from the Trump administration, soared to a record high after agreeing a $23bn deal to sell a large collection of wireless spectrum licences to rival AT&T.
The transaction will provide a much-needed cash infusion for the debt-laden telco as it faces pressure from the industry regulator, but in effect ends a 45-year effort by Charlie Ergen, the billionaire satellite tycoon and company founder, to build a US mobile phone network.
Shares in Colorado-based EchoStar were up 74 per cent during afternoon Wall Street trading on Tuesday, implying a total company market capitalisation of about $15bn. Earlier, the shares had gained as much as 84.7 per cent.
EchoStar, founded in 1980 by Ergen, who remains chair, faced intense pressure earlier this year from the US Federal Communications Commission, which questioned whether it was meeting its obligations to build a 5G satellite-based mobile phone network after spending more than $40bn acquiring wireless spectrum rights in recent decades.
EchoStar’s Boost Mobile service is the fourth-largest wireless carrier in the US, but its few million customers pale in comparison to the hundreds of millions each of its bigger competitors have. The company said on Tuesday it had also agreed to a so-called mobile network operator partnership where Boost Mobile will operate on AT&T’s existing mobile network.
During the FCC investigation, EchoStar chose not to make certain interest payments on its debt while it pondered its options. But it ended up meeting those obligations and opted not to file for bankruptcy.
There had been speculation at the time that Elon Musk’s SpaceX coveted the EchoStar spectrum for its own Starlink service, but it is now AT&T that picks up valuable wireless spectrum licences that will serve as a boon to its 5G and wireless network.
Tuesday’s deal is the latest example of the Trump administration inserting itself into a complex industry, creating the sort of pressure that forced Ergen to quickly reconsider his ambitions. The deal still requires regulatory sign-off by the FCC before it can go ahead. The companies expect it to close by summer 2026.
“EchoStar and Boost Mobile have met all of the FCC’s network buildout milestones. However, this spectrum sale to AT&T and hybrid MNO agreement are critical steps toward resolving the FCC’s spectrum utilization concerns,” Ergen said in a statement.
In an effort to add scale and unify his empire, EchoStar in 2023 merged with Dish Network, the mogul’s listed satellite-TV provider, which had been struggling to retain customers in the age of video streaming.
EchoStar carries more than $30bn of debt and the company had completed a messy debt restructuring in 2024 after a messy fight with distressed debt hedge funds. Its other remaining businesses, including Dish TV, Sling and Hughes, would not be affected by the AT&T deal, the company said.
