FCC Approves EchoStar $40 Billion Spectrum Sales to SpaceX and AT&T

The Federal Communications Commission approved EchoStar’s $40 billion spectrum sales to SpaceX and AT&T, clearing a major U.S. regulatory hurdle for the transactions announced last year.

“The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) approved EchoStar's $40 billion in spectrum sales to SpaceX and AT&T.”

SDxCentral

FCC Chairman Brendan Carr said the approvals, “coupled with other secondary-market transactions and FCC auctions already in the pipeline, put America on the path to releasing approximately 300 megahertz of low- and mid-band spectrum by the end of 2027,” framing the move as freeing spectrum for “actual deployments.”

Advanced Television

SpaceX is purchasing 65 megahertz of spectrum from EchoStar to support its growing Starlink direct-to-device (D2D) offering, while AT&T will gain around 50 megahertz of its nationwide spectrum.

The FCC said AT&T is required to build a greenfield 600 MHz network “years faster than what the company originally requested,” and it also required EchoStar to create an escrow account of around $2.4 billion.

The approvals follow an FCC probe into EchoStar’s 5G rollout that ended last September, and Carr confirmed the agency plans to undertake similar probes into spectrum holders “in the coming months.”

While the FCC approved the spectrum transfers, it attached a condition requiring EchoStar to set up a $2.4 billion escrow account to cover potential obligations tied to disputes over work under its spectrum licenses.

SpaceNews said the escrow is tied to disputes over the seller’s abandoned terrestrial 5G network buildout, and it described the regulator’s rationale as ensuring Dish honors obligations to infrastructure partners.

Ars Technica

EchoStar’s spokesperson told PCMag: “these approvals come with an unprecedented involuntary escrow condition,” adding that the company was “analyzing this requirement and evaluating next steps.”

PCMag also reported that EchoStar sold the spectrum to SpaceX and AT&T for $43 billion in cash and stock, even as it pushed back on the escrow requirement.

The FCC’s statement, as Fierce Network quoted it, said the escrow account “can be drawn upon for qualifying claims,” while leaving “the merits of any dispute to the parties or outside fora.”

The FCC approval is structured to close in stages, with EchoStar expecting the licenses to fully transfer around Nov. 30, 2027 unless SpaceX chooses to close earlier and cover additional debt-related costs.

“EchoStar recently said it continues to expect the licenses to fully transfer around Nov. 30, 2027”

SpaceNews

SpaceNews said the FCC allowed SpaceX to sell around 115 megahertz of spectrum in separate deals announced last year with SpaceX and AT&T, collectively worth more than $40 billion.

Fierce Network reported that AT&T received special authority to use EchoStar’s 3.45 GHz spectrum before the transaction was approved and deployed across 23,000 sites, boosting download speeds by up to 80% nationwide.

For SpaceX, the FCC said the spectrum use is “subject to first-of-its-kind performance obligations designed to be technologically neutral,” requiring SpaceX to provide “meaningful, reliable connectivity to the public – whether D2D [direct-to-device], terrestrial, or both – within years.”

Ars Technica added that Boost Mobile will continue to provide wireless service, but over the AT&T network rather than EchoStar’s own, while Boost Mobile will also have access to Starlink’s mobile network through a deal with SpaceX.