Dish Network’s long and winding road to gain access to AWS-3 spectrum auctioned in 2014 may finally be coming to an end.
The U.S. Supreme Court denied a cert petition by Dish and its affiliated designated entities (DEs) to review a Court of Appeals decision, “effectively ending Dish’s effort to gain control of spectrum that was auctioned in 2014,” wrote New Street Research analyst Blair Levin in a report for investors on Friday.
Dish did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
In the 2014 AWS-3 auction, the FCC provided bidding credits to DEs in an effort to help small companies and new market entrants obtain spectrum. The rules required DEs to show they were independent companies and not entities set up by larger companies to buy spectrum on the cheap.
Two DEs affiliated with Dish – Northstar Wireless and SNR Wireless – won licenses that entitled them to $3.3 billion in bidding credits.
However, after the auction, the FCC determined that under the agreements with the parties, Dish possessed de facto control of the DEs. The DEs defaulted on 197 licenses and the FCC forced Dish to pay a fine of $515 million.
Prospects for reauction
Lawsuits ensued and last year, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit ruled in favor of the FCC. Dish and the DEs appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court, which, per Levin’s report last week, declined to take the case.
The Supreme Court’s decision, which was expected, has no implications for Dish relative to status quo and expectations, Levin said. It already paid $515 million and remains on the hook for any shortfall in a reauction of the licenses in question, although there’s unlikely to be any shortfall.
There are implications for other carriers, as it raises the prospects of a reauction of spectrum in the “not-too-distant future,” he said. The FCC currently doesn’t have auction authority, but that authority is likely to be restored by Congress in the second half of this year, and the FCC can reauction the spectrum any time after that.