Dish Agrees to Buy 800 MHz Licenses From T-Mobile

Dish Network filed an agreement at the FCC Wednesday to buy 800 MHz spectrum licenses from T-Mobile. Dish also asked a federal court in D.C. to delay the terms of the deal, allowing the purchase to slip until next summer, giving it more time to put together funding, Dish confirmed Thursday. "DISH and T-Mobile jointly filed an application seeking authority from the FCC to transfer the 800 MHz licenses to DISH," a Dish spokesperson emailed: "To give DISH more time to responsibly finance the purchase of this spectrum, DISH also filed a motion in the District Court for the District of Columbia today to modify the Final Judgment to extend the timeline for the actual divestiture until June 30, 2024." The spectrum was part of a complicated set of arrangements allowing T-Mobile to complete its buy of Sprint. Dish was required to pay $3.6 billion to buy the licenses, with a $72 million fee for walking away from the deal (see 1907260071). “Grant of the Application will further important public interest benefits well-recognized by the Commission,” told the FCC. “In its order approving the T-Mobile/Sprint merger, the Commission explicitly recognized the benefits of DISH entering the market as the fourth nationwide, facilities-based provider deploying a 5G network. … The terms of the Final Judgment are designed to facilitate DISH’s entry into the wireless market as a facilities-based provider and grant of the instant Application would further this important objective and enhance competition in the mobile wireless marketplace by making DISH a stronger competitor in the offering of mobile voice and broadband services.” The filing was made through Dish subsidiary American H Block Wireless Holding. Dish had until Aug. 11 before T-Mobile would terminate the offer, T-Mobile CEO Mike Sievert said on an earnings call last month (see 2307270064). “We’re in discussions with Dish about whether or not there might be a win-win that’s different from their initial privilege,” he said at the time.