Petitions to deny SpaceX's acquisition of EchoStar spectrum licenses are due Oct. 30, according to an FCC Wireless Bureau public notice Tuesday (docket 25-302). Oppositions are due Nov. 14, replies Nov. 24. SpaceX is buying EchoStar's AWS-4 and H-block spectrum licenses (see 2509080052). Also due Oct. 30 are petitions to deny AT&T's purchase of EchoStar's 3.45 GHz and 600 MHz licenses (see 2509300046). EchoStar is reportedly talking with Verizon about the sale of its AWS-3 spectrum licenses (see 2509300057).
Verizon is in discussions with EchoStar about buying the company’s AWS-3 spectrum, Bloomberg News reported Monday, citing unnamed sources familiar with the talks. AT&T announced an agreement in August to buy EchoStar’s 600 MHz and 3.45 GHz licenses for $23 billion (see 2508260005). Dish Network, which is now part of EchoStar, was the third-highest bidder in the 2015 auction, with bids of more than $13 billion. Dish returned some of the licenses to the FCC, which will sell them in an upcoming auction.
An upper C-band auction is unlikely to start in FY 2026, the FCC Office of Economics and Analytics said in an annual update on projected auction activity in the next fiscal year, which begins Wednesday. The report projected that the AWS-3 reauction will get underway but didn’t provide additional timing details. The report was posted in Monday’s Daily Digest. “In the next twelve months, the Commission will also consider competitive bidding for licenses for spectrum in other services in its inventory that is well-suited for 5G and has been licensed in prior auctions, such as, without limitation, 600 MHz spectrum,” the report said.
FCC authority to change the national TV ownership cap remains unclear, and anything the agency does is likely to end up challenged in court, agency Chief of Staff Scott Delacourt said Wednesday at a Media Institute event. He also waved off the idea that the end of Chevron deference significantly changes how the FCC will defend its actions in court. The commissioners will vote on kicking off the 2022 quadrennial review of broadcast-ownership rules at its meeting next week (see 2509090060).
The FCC dropping its twin probes against EchoStar seemingly shows that the agency is all for EchoStar selling its AWS-4 and H-block spectrum to SpaceX and its 3.45 GHz and 600 MHz licenses to AT&T, wireless and spectrum experts told us. Some also said the SpaceX deal could open the door to the satellite operator becoming a wireless competitor.
Odds are that EchoStar will continue pursuing its direct-to-device constellation plans in light of the $23 billion spectrum sale to AT&T, which was announced last week (see 2508260052), satellite and spectrum consultant Tim Farrar wrote Sunday. He said it seems likely that EchoStar is looking at other spectrum deals, and available options include AT&T swapping the 600 MHz spectrum it's buying from EchoStar with T-Mobile for that company's C-band spectrum, or Verizon buying EchoStar's AWS-3 spectrum and leasing its AWS-4 in urban areas. It's also possible that no wireless carrier ends up interested in EchoStar's spectrum at the prices it's asking, he noted. EchoStar's D2D constellation plans become moot only if T-Mobile buys all of EchoStar's midband spectrum, with some to be shared with SpaceX, Farrar said. As long as the FCC signs off on the EchoStar/AT&T deal, it "seems more likely than not that at least the first stage of EchoStar’s constellation will be built."
EchoStar is asking the 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals to require the FCC to change rules in the AWS-3 auction order that commissioners approved in July (see 2507240055). In the order, the FCC rejected arguments by EchoStar, parent of Dish Network, that the agency should use the same designated entity (DE) rules in the reauction that it employed in the original (see 2507220033).
In the biggest wireless deal since T-Mobile bought Sprint five years ago, AT&T announced Tuesday that it’s buying EchoStar spectrum for $23 billion (see 2508260005). EchoStar will continue to offer wireless service, but primarily as a mobile virtual network operator riding on AT&T’s network.
The FCC’s top telecom priorities include the components of Chairman Brendan Carr’s “Build America Agenda,” stabilizing USF and deregulation, agency Chief of Staff Scott Delacourt said. NTIA Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary Adam Cassady said finishing BEAD "is job one," but other tasks include space policy revisions and identifying spectrum for commercialization. The two spoke Monday at Technology Policy Institute’s annual Aspen Forum.
The FCC on Thursday approved 3-0 an NPRM examining potential changes to the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) and the National Historic Preservation Act (NHPA), which have been a focus of the Trump administration. Commissioner Anna Gomez said she was able to get a few changes in the NPRM, which led to her yes vote.