EchoStar (NASDAQ: SATS) continues to face challenges as it strives to compete as the fourth U.S. national mobile network operator. Its 2024 financial results indicated ongoing declines in both subscribers and wireless service revenue, although these declines are decelerating. EchoStar asserts that it is on track to transition subscribers, and voice and data traffic onto its standalone 5G network to meet FCC buildout mandates.
For 2024, EchoStar reported wireless service revenues of $3.16 billion, a decrease of over five percent from $3.34 billion in 2023, and nearly nine percent lower than the $3.65 billion in 2022. This decline in service revenues reflects a reduction in wireless subscribers, totaling 6,995,000 at the end of 2024 compared to 7,378,000 at the end of 2023 and 7,983,000 in 2022. However, ARPU increased by over one percent in 2024 to $36.57, which helped mitigate the decline in wireless service revenue.
In September 2024, the FCC conditionally granted EchoStar’s requests to extend the 5G deployment deadlines for certain wireless spectrum licenses to December 14, 2026, with final deployment deadlines by June 14, 2028, in exchange for specific public interest commitments, Inside Towers reported. These commitments included offering a nationwide low-cost plan ($25 per month for 30 gigabytes of data), allowing small carriers and Tribal governments to lease its spectrum, and deploying additional 5G towers.
EchoStar invested $2.6 billion in its 5G Network Deployment capex in both 2022 and 2023 to achieve its target of 70 percent U.S. population coverage by June 2023. With extended construction timeframes, the company reduced its 2024 network capex by nearly 57 percent, totaling $1.1 billion in 2024. By the end of 2024, EchoStar had spent $7.4 billion of the $10 billion it previously committed to building its nationwide 5G Open RAN network.
The company currently operates as an MVNO on the T-Mobile (NASDAQ: TMUS) and AT&T (NYSE: T) networks. As more of its 5G network becomes commercially available, EchoStar is transitioning to an MNO and focusing on increasing customer postpaid traffic.
During the fourth quarter, EchoStar met its latest FCC milestone by extending 5G broadband coverage to over 80 percent or more than 268 million people, now with over 23,000 sites operational. Additionally, it expanded its 5G voice coverage with network launches in Boston, Seattle, and Pittsburgh, making VoNR available to more than 220 million people across over 100 markets.
EchoStar says it has deployed 3GPP Release 17 across the network and expects to reach 24,000 operational sites by June 14, 2025, to meet the next FCC milestone. The company believes FCC extensions allow it to build out its network more efficiently and increase competition in densely populated areas. Consequently, EchoStar anticipates lower capex levels in 2025 due to the extended FCC build-out deadlines.
The company reported, for the first time, over one million on-net customers using pure 5G on the Boost Mobile network. EchoStar is focusing on leveraging owner economics by activating more new customers directly onto its 5G network along with upgrading existing prepaid customers to Boost Mobile-compatible devices.
“For 2025, we plan to continue optimizing the Boost Mobile network and expanding our network footprint based on consumer needs and in accordance with meeting our FCC milestones,” said John Swearinga, EchoStar President of Technology and COO.
EchoStar has some potential accelerators. The company holds extensive mid-band 3.45 GHz and CBRS spectrum licenses acquired at auction. Swearinga highlighted that the company is working with the FCC to increase CBRS power levels, which it believes is crucial for improving spectral efficiency and maximizing band utilization. Moreover, he emphasized that Boost Mobile’s Open RAN network architecture is “AI-ready” and well-positioned to support Gen AI use cases and workloads.
By John Celentano, Inside Towers Business Editor
Reader Interactions