- AT&T went to town with the 3.45 GHz spectrum it's acquiring from EchoStar, deploying it to nearly 23,000 cell sites
- It’s all part of AT&T’s grand plan to improve its 5G mobile network and add capacity for Internet Air fixed wireless access (FWA) customers
- EchoStar’s Boost Mobile business never deployed the 3.45 GHz spectrum, making the transition all the easier
AT&T CEO John Stankey wasn’t kidding when he said AT&T would use the 3.45 GHz spectrum from EchoStar to cover nearly two-thirds of the U.S. population by mid-November.
The operator today announced it rolled out the 3.45 GHz spectrum to nearly 23,000 cell sites in a matter of a few weeks – a record fast deployment for AT&T. The announcement comes before the exchange of spectrum from EchoStar to AT&T has been officially approved by regulators. Thanks to a short-term spectrum management lease, AT&T is able to deploy this spectrum well before that deal is expected to close next year.
AT&T and Dish Network, now a subsidiary of EchoStar, were the top two bidders in the 3.45 GHz auction in 2021. But EchoStar never deployed its 3.45 GHz spectrum, likely easing the transition for AT&T.
Eben Albertyn, Boost Mobile chief technology officer, told Fierce last year that he was waiting to deploy 3.45 GHz and C-band spectrum until he knew what the FCC was going to do with CBRS 3.5 GHz power levels because all three bands are closely tied together. EchoStar/Dish/Boost was a big proponent of higher power levels for CBRS, a proposal that remains controversial.
In the ensuing year, the FCC opened an investigation into EchoStar’s spectrum usage, a situation that ended in EchoStar selling spectrum to AT&T and SpaceX amid plans to decommission its network and operate as a "hybrid" mobile network operator using its own 5G core and AT&T's RAN.
AT&T's part of the deal includes the $23 billion purchase of a 30 MHz chunk of EchoStar’s 3.45 GHz spectrum, as well a 20 MHz swath of its 600 MHz airwaves. AT&T currently doesn’t operate in the 600 MHz band and has signaled it could take a couple years for that to get deployed.
AT&T: faster 5G, home internet
Both 5G mobility and AT&T Internet Air fixed wireless access (FWA) customers are getting the benefit of the additional 3.45 GHz spectrum. According to AT&T, customers are starting to see download speeds up to 80% faster on its mobile service and 55% faster for AT&T Internet Air.
AT&T is using these faster speeds to reinforce its messaging about network superiority and reliability, citing a RootMetrics report that recognized AT&T for best overall network in the first half of 2025.
“We’ve put EchoStar spectrum to work on our network and our customers are already feeling the difference,” said AT&T Chief Operating Officer Jeff McElfresh in a statement.
Ad battle
McElfresh appeared on Yahoo! Finance last month where he talked about AT&T’s new ad campaign and said T-Mobile’s network is 300,000 square miles smaller than AT&T’s wireless network.
Included in AT&T’s campaign is a commercial featuring actor Luke Wilson strolling through the countryside, saying “T-Mobile is the master of breaking promises” and holding a mock newspaper with the headline “T-Mobile most challenged for deceptive ads.” The ad is very similar to T-Mobile’s spot that shows Billy Bob Thornton walking a country road and talking about how T-Mobile stole the “best network” crown from Verizon.
The advertising watchdog group BBB National Programs Inc. sent a “cease and desist” letter to AT&T over its ads, to which AT&T responded with a lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas in Dallas.