Spectrum was the story of the week. AT&T closed its $23 billion purchase of EchoStar wireless licenses on Tuesday, Amazon’s Leo unit asked the FCC for a 5,105 satellite direct to device constellation riding Globalstar spectrum, and a report that SpaceX is hunting for spectrum suited to dense urban markets knocked all three US carriers lower. The result was an unusual split: satellite and emerging names mostly rallied while the carriers that have to defend against them sold off, and SpaceX itself fell hardest of anything we track as investors braced for its first public earnings report and an insider lockup expiration. Router and equipment makers went their own way, with Plover Bay and Inseego up sharply and Semtech giving back a chunk of the prior week’s gain.
Performance: Week Ending July 31, 2026
Closing prices are for Friday, July 31, 2026. The week over week comparison is against Friday, July 24, 2026, which was a normal US trading session.
US Carriers
| Company | Ticker | Latest Close | Week Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| AT&T | T | $23.25 | down 3.65% |
| Verizon | VZ | $46.81 | +0.93% |
| T-Mobile US | TMUS | $172.71 | down 4.10% |
Router & Equipment Makers
| Company | Ticker | Latest Close | Week Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ericsson (Cradlepoint) | ERIC | $9.81 | +5.03% |
| Semtech (Sierra Wireless) | SMTC | $117.82 | down 6.43% |
| Digi International | DGII | $69.72 | +4.14% |
| Netgear | NTGR | $24.16 | down 3.13% |
| Inseego | INSG | $7.03 | +5.56% |
| Cisco (Meraki) | CSCO | $115.99 | +1.59% |
| Plover Bay (Peplink) | 1523.HK | HK$8.34 | +4.25% |
Satellite & Emerging
| Company | Ticker | Latest Close | Week Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| AST SpaceMobile | ASTS | $59.02 | +5.02% |
| Iridium | IRDM | $47.34 | +3.41% |
| Globalstar | GSAT | $83.38 | +5.64% |
| EchoStar | ECHO | $84.09 | down 4.31% |
| Viasat | VSAT | $76.93 | +7.29% (approximate) |
| SpaceX | SPCX | $108.37 | down 5.82% |
A note on the Viasat figure: the July 24 baseline we could verify came from a quote page rather than a settled history table, so treat that percentage as approximate. Plover Bay’s weekly number also hides a violent round trip, with shares selling off after Thursday’s interim results and then closing Friday up roughly 19 percent.
Stories Behind the Moves
US Carriers
AT&T had the busiest week of the three and still finished lower. It closed the $23 billion EchoStar spectrum acquisition on July 28, adding roughly 50 MHz of low band and mid band capacity across effectively every US market, and separately said AT&T Internet Air passed 2 million subscribers, doubling its fixed wireless base in about half the time it took to reach the first million. Verizon was the only carrier to finish green, helped by a $1 billion dark fiber agreement with Google disclosed alongside earnings and a $1.5 billion Bain Capital and Tillman investment in Eaton Fiber to accelerate its consumer fiber build. T-Mobile was the worst carrier performer after reports that executives told Deutsche Telekom they no longer support a proposed $300 billion merger, capping a rough stretch that also included a Monday outage affecting tens of thousands of users. All three names dropped midweek on a report that SpaceX has been seeking spectrum suited for urban and densely populated areas.
Router & Equipment Makers
The equipment group was the most scattered. Plover Bay, Peplink’s listed parent, reported first half revenue of $74.6 million, up 18.5 percent year over year, with net profit up 28 percent and gross margin near 59 percent. Shares fell on the print and then rebounded hard on Friday. Inseego kept its quiet momentum, announcing that Inseego Subscribe became one of the first subscriber lifecycle platforms to earn the new CMMC certification, which opens the door for service providers supporting US federal customers. Digi drifted higher ahead of its fiscal third quarter results on August 5. Ericsson continued executing its buyback program, and Cisco was steady. Semtech was the week’s worst equipment performer, swinging double digits on consecutive days amid a publicized shareholder rights investigation and no offsetting company news. Netgear fell on the week but rallied more than 5 percent on Friday.
Satellite & Emerging
Amazon’s Leo unit set the tone on July 27 by filing with the FCC to deploy a 5,105 satellite direct to device constellation using Globalstar spectrum, targeting voice, messaging, data and emergency service beyond terrestrial coverage. Globalstar rose 5.6 percent on the news even without issuing anything itself. AST SpaceMobile announced the launch date for BlueBird satellites 11, 12 and 13 and picked up an upgrade from Scotiabank. Iridium partnered with SKYWAVE, an ORBCOMM company, to push global industrial IoT connectivity to heavy equipment OEMs. Viasat had the thinnest news flow yet the biggest gain, which looks spectrum and sector driven rather than company specific ahead of its August 4 results call. EchoStar fell despite banking the AT&T spectrum proceeds, weighed down by a report that its Hughes Network Systems unit was preparing a Chapter 11 filing to avoid a $1.5 billion debt maturity due August 1. SpaceX led the decliners after a Sell initiation from Phillip Securities and swirling speculation about a Tesla combination, with its first public earnings report due August 4.
Starlink and Amazon Leo
Starlink’s 2026 price increases continued to work through the base, with Residential 100 Mbps at $55 per month, Residential MAX at $130, Standby Mode doubled to $10, and aviation plans set to double on August 7. The FCC also granted conditional approval exempting new Starlink router models from its router ban through February 2028. Amazon Leo, the service formerly known as Project Kuiper, made the bigger strategic move with its direct to device filing, putting it in direct competition with both Starlink’s satellite texting service and AST SpaceMobile. For anyone designing failover, the practical read is that low earth orbit capacity keeps expanding while pricing keeps moving, so lock your design to link diversity rather than to any single provider’s price sheet.
5Gstore Take
This week made the same point three different ways: the connectivity layer under your network is being repriced and rearranged faster than most refresh cycles. Spectrum is changing hands at $23 billion a clip, a new satellite entrant just asked for five thousand more spacecraft, and Starlink raised prices again. None of that is something you control. What you do control is whether a site stays online when one path degrades or one bill jumps.
That is the case for multi WAN and multi carrier design rather than betting a site on any one operator. We sell and support the vendors that make that practical: Peplink, Cradlepoint, Sierra Wireless / Semtech, Inseego, Digi, Teltonika, and Katalyst. We also covered the Starlink pricing changes and the latest Peplink firmware in more depth in our weekly Connectivity Intel roundup.
If you want help scoping a carrier diversity plan, a satellite plus cellular bonded design, or a refresh off aging hardware, contact us here and our team will work through it with you.
FAQ
Why did the carriers fall while satellite names rose?
A report that SpaceX is pursuing spectrum suited to dense urban markets landed midweek. That is read as a long term threat to terrestrial wireless economics, so money rotated toward the satellite side of the trade.
Does the AT&T and EchoStar spectrum deal change anything for my routers?
Not immediately. The added low band and mid band capacity should improve AT&T 5G performance over time, but it does not require new hardware. If your fleet is on older LTE only modems, that is a separate refresh conversation.
What is Amazon Leo?
It is Amazon’s satellite broadband business, previously known as Project Kuiper. Its July 27 FCC filing seeks approval for a 5,105 satellite direct to device network using Globalstar spectrum, with service targeted for 2028.
Why is Plover Bay on this list?
Plover Bay Technologies is Peplink’s publicly listed parent on the Hong Kong exchange, so it is the only way to track Peplink’s financial performance in public markets.
Should I expect more Starlink price increases?
We cannot predict pricing, but 2026 has brought several increases across residential, standby and aviation plans. Budgeting for movement and designing failover so traffic can shift to the cheapest healthy link is the defensive posture.
Disclaimer
This post is informational market commentary and industry news, not investment advice. 5Gstore is a networking hardware reseller, not a financial advisor. Prices reflect the latest available quotes we could verify at the time of writing and may differ from other sources or from current levels. Do your own research before making any investment decision.
About the Author
Michael Ginsberg is the founder of 5Gstore.com, a trusted source for cellular routers and failover networking solutions since 2005. With a background in software and networking dating back to 1988, he writes about cellular connectivity, IoT infrastructure, network security, and fleet management. Connect with Michael on LinkedIn or reach the 5Gstore team through our contact page.
