Evaluating EchoStar's Holy Grail: Owning the Customer, 90% reduction in Capex, with Close to Owner's Economics

Executive Summary

AT&T announced that it will acquire approximately 30 MHz of nationwide 3.45 GHz mid-band and about 20 MHz of nationwide 600 MHz low-band spectrum from EchoStar for roughly $23 billion, and will expand a long-term wholesale and network services agreement. EchoStar/Boost will continue operating as a hybrid mobile network operator: subscribers attach to EchoStar’s own cloud-native 5G core while sessions ride on AT&T’s nationwide RAN—a 3GPP MOCN pattern (one shared RAN broadcasting multiple PLMNs, with separate cores behind it). This mirrors a proven blueprint on AT&T’s network (e.g., multi-PLMN cells with a distinct core), providing EchoStar with scale without compromising control of its core stack and services.

For Boost/EchoStar, MOCN offers the best of both worlds: they still own the customer (SIM/PLMN steering, billing/CRM, policy/charging, QoS/slicing, service roadmap) while gaining nationwide radio coverage and reducing capital expenditure through AT&T’s RAN. What remains unknown—and is key to assessing the deal—is how close they come to achieving true “owner’s economics” after accounting for wholesale/RAN fees, traffic unit costs, and SLA structures; this outcome will determine whether Boost functions more like a high-control MVNO or a capital-light MNO. The main challenge to unlocking that potential is integration risk, including seamless multi-PLMN operation on shared cells, efficient RAN↔core interoperability for 5G data and voice, reliable QoS/slice mapping and emergency services, lawful-intercept boundaries, and clear operational/KPI separation, all of which have been proven in both laboratory and real-world scenarios.

1) Announced

• AT&T: Confirms $23B spectrum acquisition (approximately 50 MHz combined across low- and mid-band), covering over 400 markets, and an improved wholesale agreement allowing EchoStar to operate as a hybrid MNO with AT&T as the main network partner. [1]

• EchoStar: Confirms sale of 3.45 GHz and 600 MHz licenses for approximately $23 billion and a hybrid MNO relationship; states Boost Mobile subscribers will attach via Boost’s cloud-native 5G core on AT&T’s network. Also notes that elements of Boost’s RAN will be decommissioned over time. [2]

2) Ramifications

EchoStar will exit from needing terrestrial spectrum and being a Radio Network (RAN). More spectrum sales are likely to come now, over time. EchoStar has stated it will decommission elements of the DISH/Boost RAN over time. However, a full shutdown of the DISH RAN cannot occur until EchoStar completes dispositions of remaining spectrum portfolios (e.g., AWS‑4 and any retained AWS‑3/AWS‑2 and 700 MHz licenses) to avoid triggering the FCC’s 180‑day “permanent discontinuance” rule for geographic licenses. [2][7]

Coverage & CapEx: EchoStar gains nationwide coverage and reduces capital intensity by leveraging AT&T’s RAN, while preserving service differentiation and control in its own 5G core (policy/charging, slicing, IMS).

Device/RAN/Core integration: AT&T’s RAN (predominantly Ericsson under its Open RAN program) must interoperate cleanly with EchoStar/Boost’s cloud‑native 5G core and voice core. This requires a lot of patience and cooperation. Refer to the technical Appendix for focus areas related to 5G integration validation. [3][4][5][6]

3) High‑Level Architecture

Separate Core Networks with Business Support Systems (BSS) and some Operational Support Systems, including Policy setting capabilities, but no Radio Access Network. Spectrum on the RAN is shared between the Core, not dedicated.

4) Vendor Facts for 5G

AT&T RAN: AT&T’s large‑scale Open RAN modernization is led by Ericsson (multi‑year deal; first third‑party radio call completed at AT&T Labs). [3][4]

EchoStar/Boost Core: Nokia supplies Boost’s cloud‑native 5G Voice Core; Nokia previously supplied the 5G SA Core (on AWS) for DISH Wireless. [5][6]

Policy/Charging: DISH/EchoStar selected Oracle’s cloud‑native 5G core control functions for policy/charging. [8]

Appendix

Appendix A – August 7th 2025 Open Commission Meeting Press Briefing: You do not have to guess Carr’s View [10]

Hi, Mr. Chairman, Todd Shields with the Capitol Forum.

Should the big three wireless companies be allowed to acquire more spectrum? >>

Chairman Carr: Of course. Yeah, when you look at the hockey stick curve of demand, we are going to be running out of capacity across our mobile wireless providers at some point in the not-too-distant future. And it takes years and years, unfortunately, to bring more spectrum online. So we want to keep leading the world in 5G, in 6G if we want to continue to make AI function on mobile phones, we need to continue to push spectrum out into the commercial marketplace, and of course, those three providers, you know, I hope get additional spectrum in the years to come here.

There have been arguments in the administration on this point. Can you address whether there has been discord within the administration? >>

Chairman Carr: No, I don't think so at all. I don't think there's any daylight across the administration on this issue. I think we communicate regularly with each other. For the FCC's part, we have never said that there's a specific number of wireless providers that we have to have. And frankly, it wouldn't really make sense in my view to do that for a lot of reasons. Including when you look at the competitive landscape today it's not three mobile wireless competitors going at each other in a silo. You've got a lot of pressure that's coming from different providers, including cable. If you look at the entities that are bringing in the highest percentage of new mobile wireless subscribers, oftentimes it's cable providers with their MVNOs and some of their own spectrum they are using to do that so i think it's a very competitive environment right now it's not limited to three so i don't have a set number in mind.

Good morning, Mr. Chairman, Kelsey griffins with Bloomberg news in the vein of carriers potentially acquiring more spectrum, can you give us an update on the negotiations with EchoStar over its spectrum license usage specifically I wanted to see if you could share more on what you would like to see from EchoStar in order to be satisfied that they are putting their portfolio to the highest and best use. >>

Chairman Carr: Yeah, no new news to share on that front. My position continues to be the same, which is again, given the need for more spectrum, given the need to make sure that spectrum is always being put to its highest and best use, I think the status quo is not acceptable. I think there's lots of different paths forward. We're open-minded to that at this point. But no specific update for you in terms of where things stand there.

Appendix B- The Trailblazing Model: FirstNet

FirstNet is the working template for “own core + AT&T RAN” at the national scale. In FirstNet, AT&T’s gNBs broadcast multiple PLMNs (AT&T 310-410 and FirstNet 313-100) on shared carriers (including Band 14), while public-safety SIMs anchor to a separate FirstNet core and IMS that enforce priority/preemption, policy/charging, LI, and emergency-services routing. That’s effectively MOCN—one shared RAN hosting multiple cores—exactly the pattern EchoStar is pursuing: leverage AT&T’s Ericsson-led RAN for coverage and radios while anchoring Boost/EchoStar subscribers on EchoStar’s own 5G core, preserving control of services, QoS/slices, and monetization. Operationally, FirstNet proves the playbook for multi-PLMN cells—clean KPI separation, provisioning/steering by SIM, rigorous change controls, and device certification—which EchoStar can adapt to commercial SLAs. The key difference lies in governance: FirstNet carries public-safety mandates and Band-14 priority locks, whereas EchoStar will operate under wholesale terms and spectrum-use constraints while decommissioning its own RAN on a regulated timeline.

Appendix C – Boost Mobile’s Present PLMN’s Use

A device on the Boost Mobile network could display several PLMNs, depending on which network it is using:

• 313-340: This indicates the phone is connected to Dish Wireless's own 5G network. This PLMN is what one would expect to see with MOCN use and AT&T core in the future.

• 310-410: This is the PLMN for AT&T, with whom Dish has a roaming agreement.

• 310-260: This is the PLMN for T-Mobile, which has also been part of Dish's network access strategy.

Appendix D — Technical Components & 5G Integration Considerations

Focus areas for a shared‑RAN / separate‑cores (MOCN) deployment:

• RAN ↔ Core integration and mobility: Registration, PDU session setup, inter‑PLMN handover; verify timers and cause codes (N2/N3).

• Voice/IMS and emergency services: VoNR/VoLTE registration, SRVCC/EMC, eCall routing; ensure proper geo‑routing per PLMN.

• Quality of service & Slicing: S‑NSSAI exposure per PLMN; 5QI/ARP alignment; URSP policy consistency across devices.

• Security & Lawful Intercept: SEPP/LI per‑PLMN; SUPI privacy and key management boundaries.

• Feature parity and device combinations: DSS, carrier aggregation (CA) combinations, power-saving features (DRX), and spectrum access parity for Boost SIMs.

• Operational separation: Fault/KPI isolation, alarms, maintenance windows, RIC/xApps/rApps impact on multi‑PLMN cells.

Suggested rollout approach: staged lab validation → friendly‑user market trials → phased market enablement with conservative feature flags; continuous telemetry review.

Appendix E — Glossary (Select Terms)

MOCN: Multi‑Operator Core Network (shared RAN, separate cores/PLMNs).

MORAN: Multi‑Operator RAN (shared RAN hardware without spectrum pooling).

PLMN: Public Land Mobile Network identifier broadcast by a cell.

N2/N3: 5G control/user‑plane interfaces between gNB and 5G Core (AMF/UPF).

S‑NSSAI: Slice identifier used for 5G network slicing.

IMS/VoNR: IP Multimedia Subsystem / Voice over New Radio (5G voice).

References

[1] AT&T — “AT&T to Acquire Spectrum Licenses from EchoStar” (Newsroom, Aug 26, 2025)
https://about.att.com/story/2025/echostar.html

[2] EchoStar — “EchoStar Announces Spectrum Sale and Hybrid Mobile Network Operator (MNO) Agreement…” (Press release, Aug 26, 2025)
https://ir.echostar.com/news-releases/news-release-details/echostar-announces-spectrum-sale-and-hybrid-mobile-network

[3] AT&T — “AT&T to Accelerate Open and Interoperable RAN through new collaboration with Ericsson” (Dec 4, 2023)
https://about.att.com/story/2023/commercial-scale-open-radio-access-network.html

[4] AT&T — “AT&T, Ericsson, and 1Finity make first Open RAN call using third‑party radios” (Aug 5, 2025)
https://about.att.com/story/2025/first-open-ran-call.html

[5] Nokia — “Boost Mobile deploys Nokia cloud‑native 5G Voice Core” (Mar 3, 2025)
https://www.nokia.com/newsroom/boost-mobile-becomes-first-mobile-operator-in-worldto-deploy-nokia-cloud-native-5g-voice-coreon-public-cloudto-accelerate-new-5g-services-mwc25/

[6] Nokia — “Nokia and DISH to deploy first 5G SA Core on AWS public cloud” (Jun 21, 2021)
https://www.nokia.com/newsroom/nokia-and-dish-to-deploy-first-5g-standalone-core-network-in-the-public-cloud-with-aws/

[7] FCC — 47 C.F.R. § 1.953 (Permanent Discontinuance of Service for Geographic Licenses)
https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-47/chapter-I/subchapter-A/part-1/subpart-F/subject-group-ECFR8fff3365c42ee11/section-1.953

[8] DISH — “DISH Wireless Selects Oracle for 5G Core Service‑Based Architecture” (press release)
https://about.dish.com/news-releases?item=123507

[9] EchoStar — Form 8‑K describing the AT&T spectrum sale and hybrid MNO agreement (Aug 26, 2025)
https://ir.echostar.com/static-files/9b081f3a-6d9f-48a6-b350-735a9052ffc3

[10] FCC- August 2025 Open Commission Meeting https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cgbLvFgEHpI&t=4572s