Dish to Colo. Judge: Don’t Uphold American Tower Contract

WASHINGTON, Jan. 8, 2026 – Dish Wireless is telling federal judges it can’t be made to remain in its contract with a major tower company because its parent company was effectively forced to sell its spectrum, and Dish itself won’t receive any of the more than $40 billion buyers are paying

EchoStar reached those deals with SpaceX and AT&T last year and is decommissioning its wireless network as a result. EchoStar’s subsidiary that operates the network, Dish, has been telling infrastructure companies it has to exit their lease agreements, as federal regulators unexpectedly demanded the sales that are leaving Dish unable to make payments.

American Tower and Crown Castle have sued over the issue, arguing EchoStar wasn’t required to sell its licenses and is trying to avoid paying its subsidiary’s bills after the highly lucrative deals.

If it can’t exit the American Tower contract, Dish would have “to pay for tower space it cannot use due to the involuntary sale of spectrum licenses through no fault of its own,” the company argued in a response to the American Tower lawsuit. 

Since it wasn’t part of the multibillion-dollar spectrum deals struck by its parent company and didn’t itself own the spectrum, Dish “is not entitled to receive any of the spectrum sale proceeds at closing,” the company wrote. “Under the extraordinary circumstances created by the FCC’s actions and the compelled sale and loss of the spectrum licenses, such enforcement would be inequitable and contrary to the parties’ reasonable expectations.” 

Dish’s response, led by Wheeler Trigg O’Donnell partner Jacob A. Rey, was filed with the U.S. District Court for the District of Colorado on Dec. 8, but was restricted because it described the companies' contract terms. A redacted version was posted publicly on Dec. 30. The company has until Friday to file a response to the Crown Castle suit.

EchoStar reached the deals amid Federal Communications Commission probes into its spectrum utilization; FCC Chairman Brendan Carr was clear he didn’t think the company was putting its airwaves to enough use. The company has argued that it was forced by the agency to make the sales, and that if it hadn’t sold some of its airwaves to other entities it could have faced ruinous penalties from the FCC.

Crown Castle and American Tower countered in their lawsuits that the FCC didn’t officially order EchoStar to do anything, and that the company repeatedly argued to the agency that it had met all of its license obligations and any penalties would be illegal.

Tower companies want FCC to mandate payments

Both spectrum sales will have to be approved by the FCC. Carr publicly said EchoStar’s airwaves would be better used by other entities, but has also been supportive of tower companies and their workers.

Those companies have asked the agency not to approve the deals without requiring EchoStar to pay its subsidiary’s bills.

“The Commission should require EchoStar to make good on their obligations, ensuring its relevant subsidiaries are fully funded and capable of meeting their contractual obligations,” NATE, which represents telecom contractors, wrote in a Jan. 6 letter. 

The group urged the agency to prevent “the use of corporate shell games that shift risk and losses onto those builders and infrastructure partners.”