FCC filing details Charlie Ergen’s bid for MobileX

An FCC transfer-of-control filing confirms that CONX, Charlie Ergen’s SPAC, plans to acquire a 60.93% equity and voting stake in MobileX through CONX Wireless Holdings. MobileX founder Peter Adderton would retain 19.42%, while the remaining 19.65% would be held by other shareholders. Verizon Wireless, operating as Cellco Partnership, is also set to receive a 12.5% equity stake in MobileX when the current MVNO agreement expires in roughly nine months.

The filing, submitted on August 21, says MobileX will merge into CONX Wireless but continue operating as an MVNO. In the near term, the company expects no disruption for customers, with service, brand, rates, terms and conditions remaining unchanged. Adderton is expected to stay on as MobileX’s leader, and other members of the management team are expected to remain involved in day-to-day operations.

MobileX sells service through its own website, independent dealers and Walmart stores in the US. The company uses AI and subscriber usage patterns to help customers build optimized, low-cost plans. CONX argues that access to additional capital, technical resources and engineering expertise should allow MobileX to accelerate new features and service offerings that would be harder to deliver as a standalone business.

CONX told the FCC that the transaction poses no competitive harm. The filing notes that EchoStar, which Ergen indirectly controls, is not a dominant US carrier, and that MobileX, with 107,000 paid subscribers, is not among the top 20 MVNO operators in the market. By comparison, Boost Mobile, the wireless brand run by EchoStar, ended the second quarter with 7.38 million subscribers.

If the deal closes, Ergen would control a mobile portfolio that collectively has MVNO agreements with all three major US carriers: AT&T, T-Mobile and Verizon. Boost Mobile is expected to remain focused on prepaid service, while MobileX could be used to target the postpaid segment. That suggests Ergen is doubling down on mobile connectivity even after Dish Wireless’s bankruptcy and the shutdown of its national 5G network.
The FCC filing does not spell out CONX’s broader strategy for MobileX, nor does it say whether MobileX and Boost Mobile will be coordinated operationally. It also remains unclear whether MobileX will gain access to Starlink’s more advanced direct-to-device platform, as Boost Mobile is expected to do. Still, the transaction underscores Ergen’s intent to deepen his presence in mobile telecom and expand his MVNO footprint across the US market.