Street View: EchoStar's spectrum shift seen boosting AT&T's wireless strategy

** EchoStar SATS has agreed to sell its wireless spectrum licenses to AT&T T for $23 bln, amid increasing regulatory scrutiny and following calls from President Donald Trump to finalize the deal

** Licenses cover more than 400 markets across the U.S. in total and will strengthen its low-band and mid-band spectrum holdings, T said

AT&T DIALS UP THE FUTURE

** J.P.Morgan says EchoStar's network shutdown could slightly hurt tower companies' revenues (0.5–1% annually), but new deployments like Open Radio Access Network (ORAN) might offset that with fresh leasing opportunities

** Bernstein sees AT&T's spectrum buy from EchoStar as a smart move to future-proof its network and accelerate its fiber-wireless convergence strategy

** RBC Capital Markets says acquisition strengthens T's 5G and fixed wireless capabilities, accelerates customer and earnings growth, pressures cable rivals, and reduces DISH-related risks while leveraging existing infrastructure

** TD Cowen says SATS can now sell spectrum to major carriers and notes improved financial flexibility; says it may also offload its PayTV unit to DirecTV as part of pivot to wireless and space-based DtD