INCOMPAS Offers Support for EchoStar’s 5G Buildout Extension

WASHINGTON, Nov. 1, 2024 – A broadband trade organization is supporting EchoStar’s extended deadline, granted by federal regulators, to roll out a new 5G wireless network.

INCOMPAS, a broadband trade organization based here, voiced its support for EchoStar’s deadline extension for building out 5G mobile infrastructure in a Thursday letter to the Federal Communications Commission. 

“The extensions will benefit consumers by preserving and enhancing competition in the mobile broadband marketplace,” INCOMPAS President Angie Kronenberg said. “Promoting and enabling a fourth nationwide provider is critical to enhancing competition in a concentrated mobile market.”

INCOMPAS’ support was prompted by an Oct. 21 challenge to the extension brought to the FCC by VTEL Wireless.

EchoStar was originally given until mid-2025 to complete its buildout. The company was granted a three-year extension, which expires on June 14, 2028.

VTEL is based in Springfield, Vt., and served 112,000 locations with internet service as of 2022, according to the Vermont state legislature. The company filed its petition to challenge EchoStar’s extension on the basis that the FCC’s Wireless Telecommunications Bureau did not have the requisite authority to grant an extension without public notice.

The company also noted that WTB’s granting of the extension would delay the rollout of crucial 5G infrastructure.

The extension request was granted by the WTB in September.

"EchoStar made a strong and compelling case for its extension request, and the WTB rightfully granted it based upon its ample authority and the extensive and detailed filing that meets the extension requirements," Kronenberg said.

INCOMPAS members include service providers Arcadian, Dobson Fiber and Consolidated Communications. The trade group also counts tech giants Google and Amazon as members.

EchoStar, the parent company of satellite TV provider Dish, is based in Englewood, Colo., and serves more than 978,000 subscribers with internet access through Hughes Network Systems, a satellite operator subsidiary, according to the company.