FCC Threatens EchoStar Licenses For Spectrum That's 'Ripe For Sharing'

An anonymous reader quotes a report from Ars Technica: Federal Communications Commission Chairman Brendan Carr has threatened to revoke EchoStar licenses for radio frequency bands coveted by rival firms including SpaceX, which alleges that EchoStar is underutilizing the spectrum. 'I have directed agency staff to begin a review of EchoStar's compliance with its federal obligations to provide 5G service throughout the United States per the terms of its federal spectrum licenses,' Carr wrote in a May 9 letter to EchoStar Chairman Charles Ergen. EchoStar and its affiliates 'hold a large number of FCC spectrum licenses that cover a significant amount of spectrum,' the letter said.

Ergen defended his company's wireless deployment but informed investors that EchoStar 'cannot predict with any degree of certainty the outcome' of the FCC proceedings. The letter from Carr and Ergen's statement is included in a Securities and Exchange Commission filing submitted by EchoStar today. EchoStar's stock price was down about 8 percent in trading today. EchoStar bought Dish Network in December 2023 and offers wireless service under the Boost Mobile brand. As The Wall Street Journal notes, the firm 'has spent years wiring thousands of cellphone towers to help Boost become a wireless operator that could rival AT&T, Verizon and T-Mobile, but the project has been slow-going. Boost's subscriber base has shrunk in the five years since Ergen bought the brand from Sprint.'

EchoStar will have to prove its case in the two FCC proceedings. The FCC set a May 27 deadline for the first round of comments in both proceedings and a June 6 deadline for reply comments. The proceedings could result in the FCC letting other companies use the spectrum and other remedies. 'In particular, we seek information on whether EchoStar is utilizing the 2 GHz band for MSS consistent with the terms of its authorizations and the Commission's rules and policies governing the expectation of robust MSS,' the FCC Space Bureau's call for comments said. 'We also seek comment on steps the Commission might take to make more intensive use of the 2 GHz band, including but not limited to allowing new MSS entrants in the band.' Last month, SpaceX urged the FCC to reallocate the spectrum, saying 'the 2 GHz band remains ripe for sharing among next-generation satellite systems that seek to finally make productive use of the spectrum for consumers and first responders.'

EchoStar countered that SpaceX's filing is 'intended to cloak another land grab for even more free spectrum,' and that its 'methodology is completely nonsensical, given that EchoStar's terrestrial deployment is subject to population-based milestones that EchoStar has repeatedly demonstrated in status reports.'

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