American Tower: Dish Not Forced to Sell Spectrum

WASHINGTON, Dec. 15, 2025 – American Tower is asking a judge to rule without delay that Dish Wireless can’t exit its long-term tower lease with the company, arguing Dish’s response to its lawsuit was insufficient.

Dish is arguing that the Federal Communications Commission forced its parent company, EchoStar, to sell spectrum that Dish relied upon to operate its wireless network. In Dish’s telling, the agency pressure and subsequent sales constituted an expected event beyond the company’s control, preventing it from fulfilling its contract obligations.

Crown Castle, another tower and telecom infrastructure company, has also sued Dish over similar claims.

“A voluntary business decision – here, EchoStar’s decision to sell spectrum for billions of dollars in support of its new business strategy – provides no excuse for DISH’s noncompliance” with the companies’ contract, American Tower wrote in a Friday filing. 

The tower company asked Colorado District Judge S. Kato Crews to issue a judgement based on the documents that have been filed so far. Dish responded to the lawsuit on Dec. 8, but the document was restricted to the public because it dealt with contract terms and negotiations and a public version with redactions hasn’t been posted.

Dish has said it’s not commenting on the ongoing litigation. American Tower, led by CEO Steve Vondran since February 2024, has had a long-term tower lease contact with Dish since March 2021.

EchoStar, Dish’s parent company, reached deals with AT&T and SpaceX earlier this year to sell more than $40 billion worth of its spectrum licenses. Dish, as the company told American Tower after the largest sales were announced, isn’t itself receiving the cash and eventually won’t be able to make rent payments, despite being owned by the company that made the sale.

The deals came after FCC Chairman Brendan Carr had opened inquiries into EchoStar’s spectrum licenses. Carr was convinced the company wasn’t putting its airwaves to good use.

EchoStar opted to sell its licenses

Not wanting its valuable licenses revoked, EchoStar opted to sell them, which the company said was an effort to get the agency off its back. Dish and EchoStar have argued the latter had no choice but to sell the licenses to avoid a potentially ruinous penalty from the FCC.

Both American Tower and Crown Castle have countered that the FCC never issued a binding order forcing the spectrum sales, and that EchoStar simply made a lucrative business decision.

EchoStar will decommission its radios as part of the deals, although American Tower notes Dish said it wanted to keep some of its facilities online at least for some time. EchoStar’s Boost Mobile wireless brand will largely operate on AT&T infrastructure, and the company is standing up a new arm called EchoStar Capital to manage the cash gained from the spectrum sales.

In its October complaint, American Tower vowed: “In all events, to the extent that DISH and EchoStar conspire to prevent DISH from paying American Tower the [redacted] fees that have yet to come due under the SCA, whether through the transfer or sale of spectrum licenses to EchoStar, or any concerted decision by EchoStar to strip DISH of assets and leave it judgment-proof, American Tower will hold DISH, EchoStar, and all of their affiliated entities accountable for all damages that it incurs.”

The spectrum sales will ultimately have to be approved by the FCC before they close, which is expected to happen next year.