The quarter closed with two cliffhangers resolving in the same week. On June 30 EchoStar made more than 500 million dollars in overdue interest payments, stepping back from the bankruptcy ledge as its political pressure campaign visibly bore fruit and settlement talks with the FCC gained traction. Then on July 3 Congress sent the One Big Beautiful Bill to the President, restoring the FCC's spectrum auction authority after a 28-month lapse and mandating an 800 megahertz pipeline, the largest legislated spectrum commitment in American history, signed into law July 4. AT&T added a consumer protection note to the week, rolling out its Wireless Account Lock feature on July 1 to combat the SIM-swapping attacks that have plagued the industry.
The satellite race hit two milestones on the same Monday. On June 23 T-Mobile announced that T-Satellite, its Starlink-powered direct-to-cell service, would exit beta and launch commercially on July 23, with data service for apps to follow in October, putting a date on the industry's most anticipated product. Hours earlier, a ULA Atlas V lifted the second batch of 27 Amazon Project Kuiper satellites into orbit, doubling the constellation as Amazon chases its FCC deployment deadline. And by Friday, EchoStar confirmed the pressure campaign was producing movement, with President Trump publicly urging an amicable resolution between the company and the FCC as grace periods on half a billion dollars in skipped interest neared expiration.
The MVNO model got its most famous customer yet this week. On June 16 the Trump Organization unveiled Trump Mobile, a branded wireless service riding the big three networks as an MVNO, complete with a 47.45 dollar monthly plan and a promised gold-colored phone, instantly making brand-driven wireless a national conversation. The same day, Charlie Ergen finally got his meeting with FCC Chairman Brendan Carr, where EchoStar reiterated that undermining its licenses would be illegal and pressed for a resolution to the review that has frozen its finances. And on Capitol Hill, the Senate Commerce Committee rallied support for an 800 megahertz spectrum pipeline in the budget reconciliation bill, setting up July's restoration of FCC auction authority.
Apple redrew its interface and EchoStar escalated to the Oval Office this week. At WWDC on June 9, Apple unveiled iOS 26 with its Liquid Glass design language, the deepest visual overhaul of the iPhone in over a decade, alongside expanded Apple Intelligence features and eSIM-forward platform changes. Two days later, EchoStar chairman Charlie Ergen took his FCC standoff to the top, meeting President Trump on June 12, with FCC Chairman Brendan Carr joining by phone, as the company sought relief from the spectrum review that has frozen its finances. Around the meeting, a broad coalition of industry stakeholders warned the FCC that unwinding EchoStar's licenses would chill investment across the entire spectrum market.
June opened with EchoStar deepening its game of financial chicken, skipping roughly 183 million dollars in interest payments on its DISH DBS notes on June 2 and blaming the FCC's review of its spectrum licenses for freezing its ability to make decisions. T-Mobile, meanwhile, formally became a fiber company, launching T-Mobile Fiber home internet nationwide on June 5 with a five-year price guarantee, the consumer-facing debut of its Lumos and Metronet joint ventures. And the month's regulatory docket filled in around them, with spectrum sharing studies, satellite items, and the EchoStar proceeding dominating the FCC's June calendar.