- Boost’s founder says competition is at stake with the $23 billion AT&T/EchoStar deal
- Adderton said FCC should require fixed broadband providers like Comcast and Charter to wholesale out their networks to MVNOs
- Analysts lament the death of the fourth national mobile network operator
Boost founder Peter Adderton has thoughts on EchoStar operating the company as a hybrid mobile virtual network operator (MVNO) on AT&T’s network, following AT&T’s $23 billion acquisition of Echostar spectrum.
Adderton calls the sale a “get out of jail free card” for EchoStar investors, but stresses that the harder work lies ahead. The deal — if approved — kills the idea of a fourth national mobile network operator (MNO) in the United States.
Instead EchoStar will operate Boost as a nationwide MVNO, leaving only three national MNOs (AT&T, T-Mobile and Verizon) to support any other MVNOs.
"Before the FCC signs off, we need to be clear about what’s at stake: Competition,” Adderton noted. “If this deal is approved, it can’t be business as usual with recycled promises about Boost’s future. The FCC needs to put real protections and wholesale rules in place so independent MVNOs can compete.”
MVNOs now 'have a weaker hand'
“In the long run, MVNOs have a weaker hand because there are now only three providers left, not four,” commented Recon Analytics founder, Roger Entner. “Not that anybody signed up with Charlie [Ergen] for wholesale, but he was like the ghost in the back corner. Right? ‘Oh if you don’t like me, I’ll do something with Charlie.’ ”
Adderton said he is "calling on the FCC to require fixed broadband providers like Comcast and Charter to wholesale out their networks to MVNOs if true competition is the end game.” He added. “History shows that without broader support and wider MVNO participation, consumers will lose out.”
Verizon, AT&T and T-Mobile continue to service MVNOs, which are able to compete with solid pricing, according to Jeff Moore, analyst at Wave7 Research in an email.
“That said, the MVNO share of the prepaid market has fallen dramatically in recent years, given Verizon’s 2021 acquisition of TracFone and T-Mobile’s 2024 acquisition of Mint Mobile and Ultra Mobile. Not counting [the] cablecos, the only MVNO in the U.S. with 2M+ subs is Consumer Cellular, which has 4.3M subs," he concluded.