EchoStar Looking to Sell the Rest of Its Terrestrial Spectrum Licenses
EchoStar aims to sell its remaining terrestrial wireless licenses within 16 months, it told the FCC in a waiver request posted Friday, as it also asked the agency to extend or drop those licenses' buildout deadlines and waive the discontinuance rule. If the waivers are granted, the company will sell its 700 MHz, paired AWS-3, citizens broadband radio service (CBRS), C-band, multichannel video distribution and data service (MVDDS), and millimeter-wave (mmWave) licenses by Sept. 1, 2028, it said in its request (docket 22-212). If those sales don't happen, EchoStar said it will conduct a private auction of the licenses by March 1, 2029.
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Earlier this month, the FCC approved the sale of EchoStar's AWS-4, AWS-H block and unpaired AWS-3 spectrum licenses and several earth station licenses to SpaceX, as well as the sale of its 3.45 GHz and 600 MHz licenses to AT&T (see 2605120050).
Joe Kane, the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation's director of broadband and spectrum policy, told us the remaining EchoStar terrestrial spectrum licenses are the leftovers from the SpaceX and AT&T deals, and it's unlikely one buyer would want all those pieces. There could be interest from operations in adjacent bands, he said, and SpaceX might be interested in EchoStar's 12 GHz spectrum.
Kane said the company is clearly trying to get the FCC on board with a process that would allow the spectrum to change hands with clean licenses, rather than EchoStar ending up in a forfeiture proceeding, which would result in administrative burdens. The FCC will look at EchoStar's proposal seriously, he predicted.
Recon Analytics' Roger Entner argued in an email that "what EchoStar wants to do here is spectrum warehousing to get a higher price, something the Commission has rejected several times." While the AT&T and SpaceX sales were lauded by the FCC for bringing fallow spectrum to use, "this would be the opposite of it."
In its waiver request, EchoStar asked that its paired AWS-3 first buildout deadline be Sept. 1, 2032, and its second be Sept. 1, 2038. It also asked for a waiver of all remaining buildout deadlines and an extension or waiver of the discontinuance rule for its 700 MHz, CBRS, MVDDS, C-band and mmWave band licenses. The mmWave licenses include its 24 GHz, local multipoint distribution service, 28 GHz, 37 GHz, 39 GHz, 47 GHz and 70/80/90 GHz licenses.
Under the discontinuance rule, a license automatically terminates if the licensee permanently discontinues service or operations under that license during its term.
EchoStar said the waivers and extensions it's seeking would help it reach potential deals. Sticking to buildout milestones and the discontinuance rule "would prevent the fastest path to making productive use of EchoStar’s remaining terrestrial spectrum."