For a decade the most interesting rows on any county band plan were the ones nobody was using. Dish, and later its parent EchoStar, assembled one of the largest spectrum portfolios in the country: 600 MHz, Lower 700 E, AWS-3, AWS-4, the PCS H block, 3.45 GHz and CBRS licences. Much of it sat lightly loaded while a fourth national network was built on top of it.
In the space of two weeks in 2025 that portfolio was promised to two very different buyers.
What was announced
On 26 August 2025, AT&T said it would buy EchoStar's 3.45 GHz and 600 MHz licences for about $23 billion: roughly 30 MHz of nationwide 3.45 GHz and about 20 MHz of nationwide 600 MHz, some 50 MHz in total across more than 400 markets.
On 8 September 2025, SpaceX said it would buy EchoStar's AWS-4 and H-block licences for about $17 billion, split between cash and SpaceX stock, to support direct-to-cell service from Starlink satellites.
Both transactions needed FCC approval, and an announced sale is not a licence transfer. On carrierdepth a block changes colour only when the assignment is consummated in the FCC's licence database. Until then you will see the deal where it belongs: in the change feed, as an application.
Which rows move
Open any county and look at four places.
- 600 MHz. EchoStar's blocks vary by market. Where they move to AT&T, AT&T gains low-band depth it has not had since the 700 MHz auctions. This is the row to watch if you live outside a metro area.
- 3.45 GHz. AT&T already holds 40 MHz in most markets. Add EchoStar's 30 MHz and it has room for much wider 5G carriers in the band. Where the blocks are adjacent the gain is larger still: one wide carrier is more efficient than two narrow ones.
- AWS-4 (2000–2020 and 2180–2200 MHz). This is the block that turns a different colour altogether. SpaceX is not a terrestrial carrier; the spectrum is intended for satellites talking to ordinary phones.
- PCS H block (1915–1920 and 1995–2000 MHz). A narrow sliver at the top of PCS, sold alongside AWS-4.
Why low-band is the story
Thirty megahertz at 3.45 GHz is a capacity upgrade. It makes a busy network faster in the places that already have dense cell sites. Twenty megahertz at 600 MHz is a coverage upgrade. Low frequencies travel further and get indoors, so a carrier can add them to existing rural towers and improve service across the whole footprint of each site.
That is why the totals at the top of each county page are split by tier. A carrier that adds 30 MHz of high-band and one that adds 20 MHz of low-band have not made the same move, even though the first number is bigger.
What a licence does not tell you
Holding a block is permission, not a network. A county page can show that a carrier holds 600 MHz there; it cannot show that the nearest tower has a 600 MHz radio on it. Read the map as the ceiling on what each carrier could deliver, then judge them on how close they get to it.
Deal terms are as announced by the companies in August and September 2025. Regulatory status changes; the change feed carries the filings.