FCC angers small carriers by helping AT&T and Starlink buy EchoStar spectrum
Approval is no surprise after FCC chair pressured EchoStar to sell licenses.
The Federal Communications Commission yesterday approved EchoStar's sales of spectrum licenses to AT&T and Starlink operator SpaceX. The deals are worth $40 billion in total.
The orders, issued by the agency's Wireless Telecommunications Bureau and Space Bureau, aren't surprising given that FCC Chairman Brendan Carr essentially forced EchoStar to sell the licenses. Last year, Carr threatened to revoke the licenses after SpaceX alleged that EchoStar subsidiary Dish Network “barely uses” the spectrum to provide mobile service to US consumers.
Dish had obtained a deadline extension for its network deployment obligations from the Biden-era FCC, and Carr objected to the agreement made with the previous administration. After Carr's threat, the Charlie Ergen-led EchoStar struck deals to sell spectrum licenses to SpaceX for $17 billion and to AT&T for $23 billion.