FCC Reviews EchoStar’s 2 GHz Spectrum Rights
Move follows SpaceX's push to open the band to new satellite entrants.
Jericho Casper
WASHINGTON, May 13, 2025 – Following a series of petitions from SpaceX, Federal Communications Commission Chairman Brendan Carr has ordered a review of a 2024 agency decision that gave EchoStar three more years to deploy its 5G network – potentially putting the company’s hold on 40 megahertz of mid-band spectrum in the 2 GigaHertz (GHz) band in jeopardy.
In a letter sent to EchoStar Chairman Charlie Ergen on Friday, May 9, Carr accused the company of “negotiating behind closed doors during the previous Administration” to delay buildout deadlines originally set for mid-2025.
That extension, approved at the bureau level, pushed deployment milestones to June 14, 2028 in exchange for a series of public interest commitments.
One business day later, on Monday, the FCC Space Bureau opened a new docket to formally assess EchoStar’s use of the 2 GHz band. The public notice specifically seeks comment on whether EchoStar was meeting its mobile-satellite service (MSS) obligations and whether the FCC should consider allowing new MSS entrants into the band.
Escalating tensions between EchoStar and SpaceX
The FCC’s action follows months of escalating tensions between EchoStar and SpaceX.
On March 20, SpaceX filed a letter urging the FCC to find that EchoStar’s market access rights in the band have expired. On April 14, it followed with a second filing asserting that EchoStar “has left this valuable mid-band spectrum chronically underused,” and that the FCC should establish a sharing framework to open the band to “new satellite entrants.”
EchoStar, in an April 15 response, argued that its 2 GHz licenses are valid, that it is meeting its buildout obligations, and that SpaceX misinterprets the FCC’s AWS-4 order.
In a follow-up filing on April 23, the company said it is developing a low-Earth orbit satellite constellation, Lyra, to operate in the AWS-4 band, and accused SpaceX of a “bad faith” attempt to “usurp the spectrum rights of a competitor.”
On May 6, SpaceX submitted a third letter, claiming EchoStar has left up to 99% of its AWS-4 spectrum idle and urging “even if the FCC finds that EchoStar has met its obligations, the underutilization of the spectrum should warrant reconsideration of the current framework.”
'Met or exceeded all of the commitments', Ergen said
In a statement to Broadband Breakfast provided by the company and attributed to Ergen, EchoStar defended its record, saying it has “met or exceeded all of the commitments it has entered into with the FCC to date,” and emphasized that its new deadlines were granted “consistent with FCC practice under the past two Administrations.”
The original September 2024 decision to extend EchoStar’s 5G buildout deadlines drew criticism, including from Carr, for being rushed. The FCC’s Wireless Bureau approved the request just three days after it was filed, without seeking public comment, causing analysts to believe the deal was predetermined. Carr at the time called it “the worst abuse of agency process he has seen in twelve years of working at the FCC.”
The FCC’s review of EchoStar’s spectrum holdings isn't limited to the 2 GHz band. Also on Monday, the FCC’s Wireless Bureau released a separate public notice seeking comment on a long-standing petition from VTel Wireless, a Vermont-based carrier that is challenging the same 2024 extension Carr is now targeting. VTel has asked the FCC to reconsider its decision to grant EchoStar more time to build out licenses across multiple bands, including AWS-4, 700 MHz, 600 MHz, and PCS H spectrum.
EchoStar’s operations span Boost Mobile, DISH Network’s 5G wireless operations, and Hughes Network Systems, a terrestrial satellite broadband provider.
In a policy note published Tuesday, Blair Levin of New Street Research wrote that Carr’s actions may reflect an effort to pressure EchoStar into a spectrum-sharing agreement or even a partial sale.
While Levin acknowledged that SpaceX has made similar arguments before, and has largely failed to convince the FCC, he warned that Carr’s framing, which portrays EchoStar as a bad-faith actor cutting “backroom deals,” poses a real threat to the company’s license stability and spectrum valuation.
“There is a significant risk to DISH that the FCC will make findings that, if upheld by a court, would reduce the value of DISH’s spectrum holdings,” Levin wrote.
Public comments on both of the FCC’s May 12 notices are due May 27, with replies due June 6.
