Verizon Had No Interest in Spectrum AT&T Purchased From EchoStar: Executive
Verizon wasn’t interested in the spectrum that AT&T is buying from EchoStar, Sowmyanarayan Sampath, CEO of Verizon Consumer Group, said at a Bank of America financial conference Wednesday. Verizon is very happy with its spectrum position, he said. AT&T announced last week an agreement to buy EchoStar spectrum for $23 billion (see 2508260005).
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Sampath said EchoStar’s 3.45 GHz and 600 MHz licenses weren’t “compatible with our radio portfolio.” Verizon has instead made “investments in C band, as well as some opportunistic investments,” he said. “Our goal is to run the best network on earth.” Regardless of how much spectrum it has compared with its peers, Verizon’s focus is running an efficient network, he added.
“We continue to be opportunistic and financially disciplined,” Sampath said. He cited Verizon’s deal, announced in October, to buy UScellular’s 850 MHz, AWS and PCS licenses for $1 billion (see 2410180004). The transaction would give Verizon an additional 2 MHz of spectrum nationwide, “but in certain pockets, it's 25 MHz, which really excites us.”
The wireless industry is highly competitive, Sampath noted. Verizon has focused on adding high-quality customers rather than just accumulating subscribers, he said. The cost of customer acquisition and retention is “slightly higher year over year, but it's kind of offset by the better-quality” customers Verizon is adding, and they're happy with the plans Verizon offers. “We don't do promotional roll-offs,” he said. “We don't bring you [in] at a teaser rate and then” increase prices in the first or second year. “Customers find that extremely annoying," so “we don’t do that.”
Sampath said the Trump administration's reductions in immigration will mean fewer potential customers, though he's unsure about the next two years. “Between now and the end of the year, we will get a better handle on that.” He also said Verizon is confident it will complete its purchase of Frontier in early 2026, after the FCC and DOJ signed off on it in May (see 2505160024). State approvals remain (see 2505160066). “We have work to do in a few of the states, but it is typical of any transaction,” he said. “We know the states very well. We have worked with them for many years.”