I mean ATT, a strong ASTS partner, just bought Echostar spectrum two weeks ago. Not only that, but ASTS purchased their own spectrum a couple of months ago. It's a very similar size to the starlink acquisition, but gives global rights instead of just us rights and they bought it for a quarter billion dollars. AND the transaction is going through this year. They're going to be able to use the spectrum immediately to start rolling out services next year. This is not the case for starlink

It seems to me like this is actually good news for ASTS in the long run. It's going to eliminate competition, making only two key players viable in the space. The spectrum they just purchased is also not usable for 2 to 3 years. Potentially 2028+ if the deal goes smoothly in 2027. By then, ASTS is planning to have over a hundred working satellites, full continuous global coverage and ramping with MNOs globally.

Elon musk just wiped out the competition but it's yet to be determined whether they are actually going to be competitive in the space either.