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AT&T has agreed to spend US$23 billion on a raft of spectrum assets from troubled mobile challenger EchoStar, a move that will among other things lead to the latter decommissioning parts of its much-hyped radio network.
The deal comes after years of speculation over EchoStar's under-used spectrum, which was attracting regulatory scrutiny, and amidst a financial squeeze for the company which has struggled to attract – or even retain – customers and set itself up as a credible fourth MNO in the US.
It includes an extension to EchoStar's existing MVNO deal with AT&T; in its own words, EchoStar will have a hybrid mobile network operator (MNO) relationship with the bigger player.
