AT&T purchased spectrum from EchoStar a few weeks ago because the latter's Boost Mobile toned down ambitions to become America's fourth mainstream carrier. This spectrum is being brought online across the country, with download speeds seeing boosts of up to 80%.

The spectrum purchased from EchoStar meant most of Boost Mobile's network would operate on AT&T. For AT&T, this meant better coverage, reliability, and bandwidth for its existing customers. Boost Mobile still uses T-Mobile and Verizon, but mostly functions across AT&T's towers now.

AT&T reports it has brought its newly acquired spectrum online. The company boasts record-setting quick deployment of said spectrum across 23,000 sites in just a handful of weeks. 5,300 cities across 48 states are now benefitting from the upgrade.

Both wireless and home internet offerings from AT&T will see improved bandwidth. The new spectrum also serves AT&T, as the carrier will not require as much capital for constructing new cell towers. Instead, coverage has been improved through more efficient means, and AT&T can keep its operating costs as low as possible.

"We’ve put EchoStar spectrum to work on our network and customers are already feeling the difference. [...]We’re setting the bar for what it means to be the best advanced networking company in America."
Jeff McElfresh - COO AT&T

[image|center|1763414948673-4cyqeh49eel.jpg|AT&T 5G coverage in city|AT&T boosts 5G coverage across America.]

How this affects you

Nothing except good news here. AT&T customers like you should either experience no difference at all, or see some improvement in your internet service.

If you're lucky, you will see a big jump in download and upload speeds. Gamers can expect better pings to servers and less jitter when playing online multiplayer video games.

AT&T customers whose jobs take them across the city, all day every day, can also expect better coverage and more reliability. In short, some customers may see reasonable gains, and others may not see much improvement. It would be unusual if some of you saw a detriment in your service.

Images courtesy of AT&T