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EchoStar in Talks to Sell AWS-3 Spectrum to Verizon

The potential deal signals a pivot to cash in spectrum to ease financial strain under FCC scrutiny.

Overview

  • Bloomberg reported private discussions covering EchoStar’s AWS-3 licenses used for 5G, citing people familiar with the talks.
  • EchoStar lists its AWS-3 holdings at about $9.8 billion in regulatory filings, though any sale price remains unspecified.
  • Shares rose in Tuesday trading after the report, extending a year-to-date surge tied to asset sales.
  • EchoStar recently agreed to sell major spectrum blocks to AT&T for about $23 billion and to SpaceX for roughly $17 billion to strengthen its balance sheet and address an FCC probe on deployment.
  • CEO Hamid Akhavan has said the company no longer plans a full nationwide network and is open to further monetization, with another AWS-3 portion slated for a federal auction next year.