Judge Terminates EchoStar Obligation to Run a Mobile Network After Spectrum Sales
The requirement was a condition of the T-Mobile-Sprint merger in 2020.
WASHINGTON, July 17, 2026 – At the Justice Department’s request, a federal judge has rescinded the legal requirement that EchoStar build and operate a mobile network.
The legal condition was part of the Justice Department’s approval of the 2020 T-Mobile-Sprint deal, in which EchoStar subsidiary Dish took over Sprint’s prepaid business and some spectrum for $5 billion. The agency was trying to preserve competition in the mobile marketplace while approving a large merger.
On Wednesday, U.S. District Judge Timothy Kelly approved the DOJ’s request to terminate the requirement.
After inking two deals to sell much of its spectrum for $42.6 billion, EchoStar is in the process of turning down its wireless network. Its Boost Mobile brand will operate on mostly AT&T infrastructure as part of a $23 billion spectrum sale to the carrier.
That’s what led the DOJ to ask Kelly to ax the requirement.
The department took comment on the plan last month and received no input, antitrust division attorney Frederick Young said in a July 10 filing.
“The United States has determined that there is no available outcome that would allow EchoStar to continue as a mobile radio network operator, and that the proposed transactions represent the best outcome for competition under the circumstances,” he wrote. “Rather than declaring bankruptcy and exiting the marketplace altogether, EchoStar can now remain in business as a mobile wireless services provider for years” after the T-Mobile-Sprint consent decree expires in 2027.
Two of EchoStar’s subsidiaries did file for bankruptcy on July 1. That includes Dish Wireless, which built out the mobile network.
Young wrote that the bankruptcy is “unrelated” to EchoStar’s obligation to be a wireless operator, because EchoStar’s “core mobile network (i.e., not its radio network) and subscribers” were moved outside Dish Wireless to another EchoStar subsidiary last year.
Tower companies seeking billions in damages from Dish Wireless have objected to that bankruptcy structure. The next hearing in the proceeding is July 23.
EchoStar said at the time the bankruptcy filings were partially motivated by “unforeseen delays” that have prevented the AT&T deal from closing on time. That gave the company less cash on hand to make $2 billion in its subsidiaries’ debt payments.
In a June 18 SEC filing, EchoStar said the deal closing was subject to the Federal Communications Commission approval order “becoming final.”
“Why these funds haven’t come through yet is a bit of a mystery,” New Street Research Analyst David Barden wrote after the bankruptcy filings.
Several retail investors on X are under the impression that with the legal obligation to run a wireless network out of the way, EchoStar will have an easier time closing the AT&T deal. The company declined to comment on the issue.
