The Verge by Emma Roth 9/8/2025
SpaceX had complained to the FCC that EchoStar ‘barely uses’ the spectrum.
Dish parent company EchoStar is selling wireless spectrum licenses to SpaceX for around $17 billion, the companies announced on Monday. SpaceX says it will use the spectrum to create the “next generation” of Starlink’s cellular satellite service, which customers of the EchoStar-owned Boost Mobile will gain access to as part of the deal.
According to EchoStar, this deal, along with the previously announced $23 billion sale of 5G spectrum to AT&T, is expected to resolve an investigation by the Federal Communications Commission.
In May, FCC Chair Brendan Carr opened a probe into EchoStar’s 5G expansion after receiving a complaint from SpaceX, which claimed the company “barely uses” its spectrum for satellite connectivity. EchoStar had originally planned to use its AWS-4 (2GHz) spectrum band to enable direct-to-device satellite cell service, but this sale puts an end to that goal.
More:
https://www.theverge.com/news/773645/echostar-dish-spacex-starlink-direct-to-cell-fcc-investigation
