Dish, DEs Likely Face FCC Denial, More Court Battles, New Street Analyst Says

The FCC likely will again deny Dish Network and designated entities SNR Wireless and Northstar Wireless bidding credits, and Dish likely will have to again head to court, New Street Research analyst Jonathan Chaplin emailed investors Thursday evening. He said despite the loosened Dish control of the DEs (see 1804040004), the company faces "seemingly anti-Dish stance" by the FCC. If the agency rules against the Dish DEs, they likely will sue, with the issue ultimately not getting resolved until 2020 or 2021, he said. If the DEs succeed, the question becomes whether the DEs can reclaim the relinquished AWS-3 spectrum licenses without any further payments, he said.