Spectrum conversion is in sight! EchoStar Corporation Class A (SATS.US) is expected to have $24.1 billion in cash after debt repayment.

EchoStar Corporation Class A (SATS.US) announced on Monday that it expects to have a total of $24.1 billion in cash after using the proceeds from the sale of its spectrum licenses to pay off debt. This move will strengthen its balance sheet and support growth in the wireless, satellite, and technology sectors. The satellite communications company sold some wireless spectrum licenses to AT&T (T.US) for $23 billion and also sold spectrum licenses worth approximately $17 billion to SpaceX. Prior to this, EchoStar Corporation Class A had faced scrutiny from the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) for not fully utilizing its spectrum resources. CEO of EchoStar Corporation Class A, Hamid Akhavan, stated that the recent spectrum transactions will bring in cash proceeds of $31.2 billion, of which $11.4 billion will be used to pay off debt. As of June 30th, the company had a total cash balance of $4.33 billion. After reaching agreements with AT&T and SpaceX, the FCC announced last week that it would end its investigation into EchoStar Corporation Class A's slow deployment of 5G services in the United States. Chairman of EchoStar Corporation Class A, Charlie Ergen, said, "The FCC's guidance to us was that we could only take a logical path forward." Akhavan mentioned that the company still controls some spectrum internally, including the AWS-3 band, which has been deployed by all major national carriers. The transactions between EchoStar Corporation Class A and AT&T and SpaceX still require approval from the FCC. EchoStar Corporation Class A will continue to operate its satellite TV service, Dish TV, and its streaming TV platform, Sling, while shifting its internet service, Hughes, towards enterprise customers. As of the time of writing, EchoStar Corporation Class A's stock had risen 1.28% in pre-market trading. The stock has gained nearly 230% so far this year.