The operator’s network covers a number of major U.S. cities and offers speeds slightly slower than what other 5G providers supply.
EchoStar, the company behind Boost Mobile, is planning to decommission portions of its wireless network following its recent deals with AT&T and SpaceX. Here’s a look at some of the capabilities of that network before it passes into history.
Key Takeaways:
- Based on Ookla Speedtest Intelligence® data, EchoStar’s Boost Mobile network provided 5G median download speeds that were slightly slower than those of its rivals, including AT&T, Verizon and T-Mobile.
- In Ookla RootMetrics® drive tests, Boost phones connected to the company’s wireless network around 83% of the time in U.S. metropolitan areas. In locations where they did not connect to the Boost Mobile network, they primarily connected to AT&T’s network.
- Boost phones used EchoStar’s 600 MHz spectrum 86.8% of the time when they weren’t roaming, making that band the company’s most-used spectrum band.
- Boost phones connected to at least 50 MHz of overall spectrum capacity in roughly half of all tests. In comparison, Boost’s rivals have deployed much more overall spectrum.
Boost Mobile Speeds are Below the U.S. Average
Dish Network – what is today EchoStar – purchased 9 million Boost Mobile customers in 2019 as part of a deal with T-Mobile and the U.S. Department of Justice.
Under that agreement, EchoStar was required to build a nationwide wireless network. The goal was to have EchoStar replace Sprint as the fourth nationwide wireless provider in the U.S.
In the years since that deal, EchoStar built a network covering roughly 80% of the U.S. population. EchoStar’s network also uses innovative open Radio Access Network (O-RAN) configurations and novel vendors including Amazon Web Services (AWS).
But now that effort is done.
“The Dish Mobile experiment is over,” wrote the financial analysts at TD Cowen in a recent note to investors following EchoStar’s deals with AT&T and SpaceX. “Its grand ambitions are dead,” agreed Recon Analytics analyst Roger Entner.
According to Ookla’s Speedtest Intelligence data – which stems from Speedtest user results – Boost’s network provided upload and download speeds slightly slower than those of its rivals. And Boost’s multi-server latency measurements were slightly higher. These findings are in line with what Ookla Research reported in May of this year.
Boost Mobile's 5G Median Download, Upload and Multi-Server Latency
From Speedtest Intelligence, August 2024 – August 2025
And what of Boost Mobile’s network coverage? Data from Ookla’s Speedtest Insights® – which relies on both foreground and background network tests – paints a picture of Boost’s network reach:
The above map shows Boost’s median 5G signal strength. Median signal strength reflects the power of an operator’s radio signal received by the device from the cell tower. Higher signal levels generally indicate the device is closer to a tower and increase the potential for good speed and the ability to make voice and video calls without dropping – which is all subject to network capacity and quality.
However, this map doesn’t highlight the differences between Boost’s own network and those of its roaming partners. Instead, it’s a representation of the experience Boost Mobile customers receive.
Boost’s network reach – and its reliance on its roaming partners – is covered in the next section.
AT&T is Boost’s Primary Roaming Partner
RootMetrics is another arm of Ookla that conducts controlled testing of mobile networks across the entire U.S. twice a year, as well as globally. These tests stretch from interstate thoroughfares to city-level drive tests to walking tests, both inside and outside. These tests can provide a deeper, more technical look into an operator’s wireless network operations.
RootMetrics tested Boost’s network in 125 U.S. metropolitan areas in the first half of 2025, and 28 in the second half of 2025 (prior to EchoStar’s announcements with AT&T and SpaceX). RootMetrics also tested Boost’s network along 50 rural state routes in the first half of 2025 and 11 in the second half of 2025.
The parameters of Boost’s roaming relationships with AT&T and T-Mobile emerged as a key finding in the data. In order to supplement its own network coverage, Boost inked roaming deals with both AT&T and T-Mobile.
According to test results, Boost relies heavily on AT&T’s network, often connecting to it in U.S. metropolitan areas and using it the majority of the time along rural state routes.
These results aren’t necessarily surprising. Boost first constructed its network in large U.S. cities and then expanded out from those locations. As a result, it generally does not cover rural routes outside major U.S. cities.
Further, based on 2H 2025 testing results, Boost had not yet launched its network in some major cities in California. As a result, it roamed extensively onto AT&T’s network in those markets.
Some markets with Boost service sported a relatively high percentage of roaming onto AT&T’s network, including Denver (tests there connected to AT&T’s network 12% of the time) and Phoenix (tests there connected to AT&T’s network 16% of the time). In other markets, like Las Vegas and St. Louis, Boost tests connected to Boost’s network 99% of the time.
Overall, Boost’s network stretches across roughly 24,000 cell sites. That’s around a third of the number of cell sites deployed by the other nationwide U.S. operators.
Boost Mainly Uses Lowband 600 MHz Spectrum
A final element in this evaluation of Boost’s progress involves the company’s use of its spectrum holdings.
Boost constructed its network across three spectrum bands: Band n71 (600 MHz), Band n66 (AWS) and Band n70 (AWS-4). EchoStar owns licenses in other spectrum bands – including 3.5 GHz CBRS and 3.45 GHz – but it hasn’t deployed the radio equipment necessary to put those bands into action.
Again, testing data provides insights into how Boost makes use of its spectrum holdings.
The reason this adds up to more than 100% is because modern smartphones can connect to multiple spectrum bands at the same time, and aggregate them.
Regardless, these findings are noteworthy because they help show the “workhorse” spectrum bands in an operator’s network. And it’s not surprising that 600 MHz plays a primary role in Boost’s network; due to the physics of wireless communications, signals in lowband spectrum like 600 MHz propagate farther than signals in higher frequencies. Thus, 600 MHz helped Boost meet the FCC’s network-buildout requirements.
Spectrum “depth” is another way to measure Boost’s spectrum usage. The amount of spectrum in use in an operator’s network often directly relates to the speeds that operator can provide.
Around 43% of Boost tests connected with 50 MHz of overall spectrum capacity. Around 16% of tests connected with a total of 60 MHz of spectrum.
To put that into perspective, other nationwide U.S. wireless operators have deployed far more overall spectrum. For example, more than half of AT&T’s tests connected with more than 80 MHz of spectrum. For T-Mobile, that figure is 210 MHz.
One final measurement of Boost’s network involves carrier aggregation. In 2H 2025 tests, Boost made extensive use of carrier aggregation technology. For example, more than half of all Boost tests connected to between three and four aggregated channels. In comparison, more than half of Verizon’s tests used two-channel carrier aggregation in 2H 2025, while more than half of T-Mobile’s tests used four-channel carrier aggregation.
Carrier aggregation is a key wireless technology that combines multiple separate frequency bands into a single, wider channel to significantly increase network speed, capacity and coverage.
What’s Next?
EchoStar recently agreed to sell its AWS-4 and H-Block spectrum licenses to SpaceX for $17 billion. Separately, it said it will sell its 3.45 GHz and 600 MHz spectrum licenses to AT&T for $23 billion.
AT&T officials have suggested the operator will be able to activate the 3.45 GHz spectrum with a software upgrade, and that the operator may use the spectrum to fortify its fixed wireless services. But AT&T will need to deploy new radios to put the 600 MHz spectrum into action.
It’s possible that, instead of putting the 600 MHz into its own network, AT&T might sell that spectrum in order to obtain more 3.45 GHz spectrum.
As of June 30, 2025, Boost counted a total of 7.357 million wireless customers. It’s likely that EchoStar will manage those Boost Mobile customers using its existing core network while shifting them onto AT&T’s physical radio access wireless network. That would allow EchoStar to dismantle its own physical wireless network.
EchoStar also plans to allow its Boost customers to roam onto SpaceX’s Starlink satellite network. However, SpaceX must first deploy new satellites that support AWS-4 and H-Block spectrum. And it will take several years for new phones to arrive in the market with support for satellite connections in those bands.
It’s also likely that EchoStar will sell its remaining spectrum holdings, such as its AWS and CBRS licenses, to a company like Verizon.
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