EchoStar, the company behind Boost Mobile, has laid off around 500 network engineers and deployment workers following its decision to sell key wireless spectrum to AT&T and shut down its own cell network operations. The job cuts happened immediately after the company announced it was getting out of the network business last week.
According to Fierce Network, EchoStar is blaming the Federal Communications Commission for forcing its hand, saying "FCC actions" led to the spectrum sale and network shutdown. The 500 employees represent less than 4% of EchoStar's total workforce of 13,700 people.
For Boost Mobile customers, the changes mean the carrier will no longer operate its own cell towers and equipment. Instead, Boost will become what's called an MVNO - essentially renting space on AT&T's existing network to provide service. This is actually how Boost Mobile originally started years ago before EchoStar tried to build its own network infrastructure.
The company says there are no plans to change the Boost Mobile brand or how customers experience the service. Boost Mobile stores will continue operating normally since the retail side of the business remains largely unaffected.
Ironically, the network that EchoStar spent years building received praise from industry experts and customers for its performance and innovative technology. The engineers built what's considered the nation's first major "Open RAN" network, which uses more flexible, standardized equipment. However, despite the technical success, Boost Mobile struggled to attract enough customers to make the expensive network infrastructure profitable.
EchoStar will receive about $23 billion from AT&T for the spectrum licenses, money the company says it will use to pay down debt and fund other business ventures. Going forward, EchoStar plans to operate as a "hybrid" carrier, maintaining some network functions while relying on AT&T for the actual cell towers and radio equipment that connect customers' phones.
Source: Fierce Network
