Wireless Internet

AT&T closed its transaction with EchoStar to acquire about 30 megahertz (MHz) of nationwide 3.45 gigahertz (GHz) mid-band spectrum and about 20 MHz of nationwide 600 MHz low-band spectrum for about $23 billion. The spectrum deal was announced in August 2025 and the closure puts a final endpoint to EchoStar Chairman Charlie Ergen’s bid to own and operate a facilities-based wireless network.

With the sixth generation of wireless communications now clearly on the horizon, the governments of Albania, Australia, Canada, Costa Rica, Czechia, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Honduras, Italy, Japan, Latvia, Lithuania, Norway, Panama, Paraguay, the Philippines, the Republic of Korea, Romania, Sweden, the United Kingdom, and the United States affirm the following Call to Action for 6G Leadership and Security. We invite other like-minded governments to join us in affirming:

Amazon Leo revealed more details about a proposed, global direct-to-device constellation that, it said, will comprise 5,105 low-Earth orbit satellites and complement the D2D satellites it will obtain via its acquisition of Globalstar.

In a recent request filed with the FCC, Starlink asked to increase the size of its broadband satellite fleet to 100,000. This coincided with the FCC’s announcement that it wants to ease the process for approving new satellites, so I have to think the idea will sail through. There was one extraordinary statement in this filing that is the topic of today’s blog. SpaceX said it has the goal of handling the majority of the world’s Internet traffic. Elon Musk has always been one for huge hyperbole, so statements like this are not surprising.

Verizon announced results for the second quarter of 2026. Highlights include:

Charter Communications reported financial and operating results for the three and six months ended June 30, 2026. Highlights include:

Comcast reported results for the 2nd quarter of 2026. Highlights include: 

• Added 448 thousand wireless lines
• Residential broadband net losses improving 34 thousand year-over-year to 167 thousand
• Net Promoter Score improving year-over-year

AT&T reported results for the second quarter of 2026. Highlights include:

• Added over 1 million Advanced Connectivity customers, driven by year-over-year increases in net adds across fiber, fixed wireless, and postpaid phone subscribers
• Advanced Connectivity service revenue of $23.5 billion, up 5.1% year over year
• 646,000 total consumer and business Advanced Connectivity internet net adds, including 367,000 fiber and 279,000 fixed wireless
• 42.5% of households with AT&T's advanced home internet services also chose AT&T wireless

T-Mobile reported second quarter 2026 results. Highlights include: 

Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick (R-TX) and House Speaker Dustin Burrows (R-TX) called for an audit of the Texas Broadband Development Office after the office faced allegations of favoring satellite companies when it came to distributing more than $5 billion in state and federal dollars. In a joint statement, the lawmakers said concerns were raised during a Senate hearing about the award process.