AT&T has deployed mid-band spectrum acquired from EchoStar to increase 5G download speeds by up to 80% across the country, the carrier announced yesterday. By deploying the mid-band spectrum to nearly 23,000 cell sites, AT&T has increased capacity and speeds for customers in more than 5,300 cities across the contiguous U.S. AT&T said that it expects the deployment to support strong and sustained growth in its high-value base of customers who subscribe to both its home internet and 5G wireless services.
EchoStar ( NASDAQ:SATS ) is on a rocket ride today with shares soaring 17% higher in morning trading after announcing a $17 billion deal to sell a portion of its spectrum licenses to SpaceX. This follows a similar blockbuster $23 billion spectrum sale to AT&T ( ) just two weeks ago - fueling a staggering 163% stock surge in 14 days.
This morning, AT&T and EchoStar announced "a definitive agreement" that will see AT&T purchase wireless spectrum licenses from EchoStar. The deal will see AT&T pay EchoStar $23 billion in cash. In return, AT&T will acquire approximately 50 MHz of low-band and mid-band wireless spectrum. That spectrum haul includes approximately 30 MHz of nationwide 3.45 GHz mid-band spectrum and approximately 20 MHz of nationwide 600 MHz low-band spectrum, according to AT&T.
