Can AT&T Benefit From EchoStar's Mid-Band Spectrum Deployment?

Pursuant to a short-term spectrum manager lease agreement, AT&T Inc. T has deployed mid-band (3.45 GHz) spectrum from EchoStar Corporation SATS to nearly 23,000 cell sites across the country, covering almost two-thirds of the U.S. population. This has helped the company unlock network efficiency, resulting in significant increases in speed and capacity for streaming, gaming and bandwidth-intensive applications for customers in more than 5,300 cities across 48 states. 

The integration of this mid-band spectrum has reportedly led to an 80% improvement in download speeds for mobility and 55% for AT&T Internet Air. The deployment is part of a $23 billion deal to acquire approximately 20 MHz of nationwide 600 MHz low-band spectrum and about 30 MHz of nationwide 3.45 GHz mid-band spectrum from EchoStar. The transaction is expected to close in mid-2026, subject to mandatory closing conditions and regulatory approvals. In addition to augmenting its regional footprint and expanding its customer base, the proposed spectrum buyout eliminates the need to construct additional cell sites for network capacity expansion. This significantly reduces capital investment requirements and drives long-term operational efficiency. 

The deployment aligns with the company’s converged connectivity push. The spectrum boost has strengthened its 5G offerings, and when paired with its growing fiber footprint, has positioned the company to meet the critical connectivity needs of consumers, small businesses and first responders. The enhanced network infrastructure has also allowed AT&T to support highly demanding AI applications and IoT devices, while accelerating the expansion of its fixed wireless services, AT&T Internet Air.

How are Competitors Faring?

T-Mobile US, Inc. TMUS boasts a strong position in the 5G market. The company’s 5G network covers 98% or 330 million people in the country. T-Mobile continues to deploy 5G with the mid-band 2.5 GHz spectrum from Sprint. The 2.5 GHz provides fast delivery, superfast speeds and extensive coverage with signals that go through walls and trees, unlike 5G networks, which are controlled by the mmWave spectrum.

Verizon Communications, Inc. VZ holds a total of 2,035 MHz of spectrum with the acquisition of C-band spectrum – 294 MHz in Sub 6 GHz spectrum (low and mid band) and 1,741 MHz of mmWave spectrum (high band). The low-band spectrum (nationwide 700 MHz licenses and 850 MHz spectrum) continues to provide one of the best connectivity experiences in the industry and supports nationwide 5G service, giving customers in more than 2,700 markets access to 5G. Verizon is rapidly deploying new C-band equipment on macro towers to expedite the expansion of 5G ultra-wideband.

T’s Price Performance, Valuation and Estimates

AT&T has gained 11% over the past year against the industry’s decline of 8.2%

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From a valuation standpoint, AT&T trades at a forward price-to-sales ratio of 1.45, below the industry tally of 1.86.

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The Zacks Consensus Estimate for AT&T’s earnings for 2025 has moved northward over the past 60 days.
 

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AT&T currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.

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This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).

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