Page 33 - SAMENA ELITE - June-September 2025

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AT&T: $23bn EchoStar Spectrum Deal to Speed up Copper Retirement
Plans

AT&T has said that its $23 billion
acquisition of EchoStar's wireless
assets can help the carrier speed up
its copper phase-out.

The carrier plans to retire its copper
network by 2029 and is amid a major
fiber build-out across the U.S., as it
aims to deploy fiber to 60 million
locations by the same year.

As such, the carrier has identified
the opportunities that its EchoStar across the U.S. to private real estate next decade."
spectrum acquisition will enable development firm Reign Capital.
for the company's legacy network When asked about the progress being
retirement and migration to fiber and The carrier is pushing to retire its made with AT&T's copper migration
FWA services instead. copper network in its “wireless-first plans, Robertson said the carrier
areas,” locations where AT&T isn't has made a lot of progress, with
As part of the deal, AT&T will acquire deploying residential fiber. the company moving more people
approximately 30 MHz of nationwide to fiber services. Only around three
3.45 GHz mid-band spectrum and "Again, moving these customers on percent of the carrier's customers are
approximately 20 MHz of nationwide to fixed wireless gives us another using copper.
600 MHz low-band spectrum. converged play where we don't
already have them on our wireless "So we have worked through quite a
During Citi’s 2025 Global Technology, products," added Robertson. bit of backlog, where customers have
Media and Telecommunications been on copper legacy products,
Conference last week, AT&T noted A key strategy for AT&T's migration to migrate them to fiber. And at this
that the mass market space will more modern technology, such as point, as soon as we build fiber in
benefit quickly from the deal. Fixed Wireless Access (FWA). FWA is the neighborhood, we're able to get
a type of broadband Internet service customers off of that copper, move
"The 3.45 GHz spectrum is spectrum that use radio signals to connect to a them over, and as soon as we can
that we can deploy within our fixed location. Unlike fiber, there are no build it, we get them off the network,"
network as soon as we get regulatory physical cables. said Robertson.
approval. We have set this deal up
such that we can pre-lease it and Robertson said that the acquisition AT&T hasn't had it all its own way with
deploy it with a very fast software will help the company "lean in to fixed its push to move away from providing
upgrade and essentially start using wireless outside of our footprint, and legacy services.
it right away," said Jenifer Robertson, that allows us to compete for price-
executive VP & general manager of sensitive customers with fixed wireless Last year, the state of California
mass markets, AT&T. and a plus wireless converged play." denied AT&T’s request to be released
from its duties as Carrier of Last Resort
"It allows us to accelerate our "And so it's a bridge to future fiber, (COLR) in the state. AT&T is currently
legacy decommissioning project, anchor the home, migrate those the designated COLR across much
that is inside of our footprint, the customers to fiber in the future, and of California, meaning it's legally
work that we are doing to lower our grow the relationship to an even more obligated to provide its telephone
cost structure and pull our legacy valuable one in the future," she added. services to anyone who asks.
infrastructure out of the network." "So there are near-term accretive
moves that we can make with this The COLR designation is designed to
Earlier this year, AT&T agreed to sell spectrum that make it very valuable make sure telecom firms don't
a portfolio of Central Offices in an to us in mass markets, and then withdraw from areas completely, or
$850 million sale-leaseback deal there's a long-term play that sets us leave citizens cut off from accessing
involving more than 70 properties up for future workloads well into the phone networks.

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