UPDATE DISH Network has responded to T-Mobile’s rejection of its request for a delay to purchase 800 MHz spectrum licenses. DISH tells the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia it is asking for a “modest” 10-month delay, necessitated in part by the rising cost of borrowing money and supply chain delays that couldn’t be anticipated when the deal for T-Mobile to acquire Sprint was struck.
Inside Towers reported that T-Mobile told the court a delay would be “unfair” to T-Mobile because it will cost the carrier money to hold onto the licenses longer. It says a modification of the so-called “Final Judgement” isn’t needed and not in the public interest. T-Mobile also explained that the license purchase agreement in the “Final Judgement” allowing the carrier to acquire Sprint requires DISH to buy the 800 MHz spectrum licenses within five business days of FCC approval. If that doesn’t happen, T-Mobile is required to proceed to auction them.
DISH says T-Mobile’s argument misses the point of the deal worked out with the Department of Justice to allow the transaction to go through. The spectrum sale to DISH was to create a viable fourth major commercial carrier.
“T-Mobile is now the largest wireless carrier by market capitalization in the United States. It gained 54 million subscribers through its merger with Sprint and, as of July 27, 2023, estimates that it has already achieved $7.5 billion in merger synergies,” notes DISH. DISH claims T-Mobile’s opposition is an attempt “to protect this enviable status from the competition the Final Judgement was designed to restore.”
DISH says T-Mobile wants the court to treat the DISH request for a delay as an “ordinary commercial dispute.” But this is not like other disputes, notes the carrier. DISH tells the court that T-Mobile recently sought permission from the FCC, along with DISH, to transfer the licenses. “The terms of the Final Judgement are designed to facilitate DISH’s entry into the wireless market as a facilities-based provider and . . . [t]he 800 MHz spectrum licenses contemplated by this transaction will substantially enhance DISH’s ability to do so,” the carrier says in its court filing. According to DISH, this admission “undermines” T-Mobile’s opposition.
Inside Towers reported that a third party, engineering firm Burns & McDonnell, is interested in the spectrum if the sale to DISH doesn’t happen. DISH notes that the company is not a wireless carrier and would be “starting from scratch” to become one and “does not pretend” that the acquisition would enable it to compete against T-Mobile.
DISH is asking for the Final Judgement to be modified to require divestiture of the 800 MHz licenses by June 30, 2024 or within five business days of the approval by the FCC of the transfer of the 800 MHz spectrum licenses, whichever is later.
By Leslie Stimson, Inside Towers Washington Bureau Chief
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