FCC Seeks 'Additional Facts' on Dish IoT Network Plans, Pai Says as Analysts See Little Agency Tolerance

FCC Chairman Ajit Pai had little to say at Thursday's commission meeting on Dish Network spectrum beyond a letter the FCC Wireless Bureau sent the company Monday asking for details on its IoT network plans (see 1807100062). “The letter speaks for itself,” Pai said after the meeting. “We just wanted to gain additional facts.” The letter is aggressive but “in and of itself changes nothing,” New Street’s Jonathan Chaplin told investors. “We have long been of the view that the Republican majority at the FCC will have a zero-tolerance policy towards [Dish Chairman Charlie] Ergen and DISH. If the company does not meet the four corners of the build out requirement, the FCC will act to take the license away.” MoffettNathanson’s Craig Moffett said that with the inquiry, Dish is under pressure. “It’s a Hollywood-worthy script (it’s a little more complicated than a Seinfeld episode),” Moffett wrote investors. “A multi-billionaire [Ergen] is risking everything to recapture the entrepreneurial glories of his early days in satellite TV. To succeed, our protagonist will have to navigate a murderers’ row of cord-cutting, groaning debt obligations, and an FCC buildout requirement that could render some of his most precious assets worthless."