Spectrum

AT&T Touts EchoStar Spectrum Deployment

The carrier is leasing EchoStar's 3.45 GHz spectrum until it closes its acquisition of the licenses.

Jake Neenan

Nov 17, 2025 — 2 min read

Photo of AT&T COO Jeff McElfresh from the company

WASHINGTON, Nov. 17, 2025 – AT&T announced Monday it had turned on new spectrum at 23,000 cell sites since reaching a deal to buy the airwaves from EchoStar in August, which the carrier said was “record fast.” The company touted increased speeds for both its mobile and fixed wireless subscribers.

The deal still needs regulatory approval, but AT&T was able to lease the 3.45 GigaHertz (GHz) airwaves in the meantime. The carrier already uses spectrum in the band for its network, making the process of deploying it largely a matter of remote updates on existing radios.

“This gives us the runway to expand availability of AT&T Internet Air for consumers and businesses and add even more download speed to our 5G service,” AT&T COO Jeff McElfresh said in a statement.

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Spectrum AT&T Echostar Jeff McElfresh John Stankey Craig Moffett

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