Dish Seeking to Freeze Tower Suits
A judge pushed back the company’s bankruptcy timeline
WASHINGTON, July 24, 2026 – A bankruptcy judge again pushed back the timeline for Dish Wireless’s bankruptcy proceeding but approved important documents over the objections of tower companies.
Dish is also suing to freeze ongoing lawsuits by those tower companies amid breach of contract disputes.
After a lengthy hearing Thursday U.S. bankruptcy judge Christopher Lopez set out a schedule that would put a hearing on the final bankruptcy plan Oct. 6, weeks later than Dish had proposed.
Lopez also said he would grant conditional approval to Dish plans for informing creditors about the bankruptcy and getting their input on the company’s plan, provided the company disclosed to creditors more information about an ongoing dispute with the towers.
The towers and other former business partners are objecting to an $8.8 billion intercompany loan that Dish Wireless says it owes to debt holders of Dish DBS, another EchoStar subsidiary.
That would give those debt holders enough voting power to approve Dish Wireless’s bankruptcy plan, which would give towers much less than the billions they say they are owed for unpaid leases and contracts.
Led by Crown Castle, which is seeking the largest claim at $3.5 billion, the tower companies are asking Lopez to find that the intercompany loan doesn’t confer voting power. They argue the loan would improperly allow Dish to effectively nullify their more than 170 lawsuits against the company.
A hearing on that issue is set for Aug. 18.
The towers unsuccessfully pushed Lopez not to approve the items he said he would clear Thursday. They said their disputes over the loan should have been ironed out before moving the process forward.
Dish sues to freeze tower suits
On Tuesday Dish asked Lopez to freeze ongoing litigation from the tower companies. The lawsuits stem from Dish’s position that it’s no longer obligated to make payments under leases and contracts after its parent company, EchoStar, sold much of its spectrum for $42 billion and turned off Dish’s mobile network.
The suits against Dish were automatically paused when it filed for bankruptcy, but some of the lawsuits also named EchoStar. They argued EchoStar directed its subsidiary’s actions to avoid using its spectrum sale proceeds to pay Dish’s bill.
Dish argued in a filing the automatic stay should also apply to the actions against EchoStar. The company said it was impossible to pursue a suit against EchoStar in this instance without effectively pursuing it against Dish as well.
It would also require Dish to spend time and resources on discovery in those cases and prevent it from focusing entirely on the bankruptcy.
“EchoStar cannot respond to document requests or prepare its witnesses without directing those demands to DWLLC [Dish Wireless]’s management and employees, making DWLLC an indispensable participant,” Dish wrote. That would “distract DWLLC’s management team and divert time and resources away from its restructuring efforts.”
