EchoStar Spectrum Deal Prompts Calls to Hold Company to Past Commitments

In comments but not a formal petition to deny, Rural Wireless Association said the SpaceX/EchoStar spectrum deal raises concerns about rural connectivity and competition in the wireless marketplace. The FCC should first determine whether EchoStar has met its 2 GHz buildout requirements and, if not, reauction the spectrum, RWA argued. That would give rural wireless carriers a chance to obtain spectrum resources, it said. The group also urged that the agency keep the terrestrial network requirement for the AWS-4 spectrum as a condition for the transaction.

Liberty Latin America said it bought EchoStar's lower AWS-3, AWS-4 and H-block licenses covering Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands (see 2402230063) while relying on its promises to build a terrestrial network covering the rest of the U.S. using those bands. Granting SpaceX waivers of the terrestrial buildout obligations of those bands for the rest of the U.S. would mean Liberty's spectrum "essentially will be stranded," said the company, which also filed comments but not a formal petition to deny.

While not opposed to the spectrum deals, the Wireless Infrastructure Association said in its comments that EchoStar shouldn't be allowed "to unjustly enrich itself," and the FCC should "make clear its expectation that EchoStar will honor and meet the existing obligations" to tower companies and vendors. EchoStar is being sued by American Tower and Crown Castle for unpaid tower leases tied to its national wireless network buildout, which it's now unwinding (see 2511260013).

EchoStar vendor and fiber-optic network operator DQE Communications raised similar arguments as it petitioned the FCC not to approve any license transfer until EchoStar "commits to honoring existing contractual obligations it now improperly seeks to avoid." DQE said EchoStar blaming its spectrum license sales on FCC actions ignores how "the entire situation was the result of EchoStar’s repeated decisions over a period of several years to defer investment and seek multiple waivers and extensions of buildout deadlines to which it had previously committed."

Backing the license transfers and related waives, New America's Open Technology Institute and Public Knowledge said that while it's not clear whether the direct-to-device service using the EchoStar spectrum will meet the promise that SpaceX laid out in the application, it's undoubtedly an innovation with numerous consumer benefits. Additional terrestrial spectrum will let SpaceX maximize the development of D2D for wireless customers, they said.

Sateliot urged the FCC to ensure that there remains open access to the 2 GHz mobile satellite service band to help with deployment of 5G and IoT satellite services.

Separately, in a docket 25-303 posting Tuesday, RWA said approval of AT&T's purchase of EchoStar's 600 MHz and 3.45 GHz licenses shouldn't come with a waiver of any buildout deadlines. The AT&T/EchoStar deal would increase spectrum consolidation among the top-three nationwide carriers, it said, and AT&T could use the FCC's Enhanced Competition Incentive Program to get more time to deploy. That approach would mean AT&T wouldn't need to make waiver requests, and it would encourage the carrier to work with rural wireless providers, "ultimately resulting in a buildout reaching Americans in rural areas in a much faster time frame."