They paid the FCC a $413 million penalty Thursday for defaulting on about 200 licenses. The entities, however, will retain about $9.8 billion of the licenses they won in an auction by the Federal Communications Commission.
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Dish confirmed in a statement that it had surrendered licenses worth $3.3 billion and said it loaned its two affiliates $413 million for the penalty from its balance sheet.
In August, the FCC concluded a months-long review of Dish’s financial and operational ties to the two companies.
Affiliates of Douglas County-based Dish Network Corp. on Thursday surrendered a few spectrum licenses back to the government, according to people familiar with the matter, after failing to secure a $3.3 billion small-business discount earlier this year. The bill for the licenses that the companies are keeping will amount to roughly $10 billion.
DISH said the FCC initiative will not impact the eligibility of Northstar Wireless, SNR Wireless and DISH to participate in future auctions, including any re-auction of the AWS-3 licenses retained by the FCC.
The Competitive Carriers Association, a group of about 100 smaller wireless broadband providers, has told the FCC it should reserve a second vacant channel for unlicensed use and place TV stations in the duplex gap “as needed”.
It was decision time for Dish, SNR and Northstar on whether they would pony up an extra $3.3 billion after the FCC declined to give SNR and Northstar that much worth of bidding credits in the AWS-3 auction, and the answer was no.
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The FCC will have to re-auction that $3.3 billion of spectrum, said an FCC official speaking on background, which will likely happen after the March broadcast incentive auction. Dish and its affiliates will be on the hook to pay the difference if the total bids in the re-auction are below $3.3 billion, the official added. Such companies are considered “very small businesses” that can receive a 25 percent discount in auction bidding. They have however retained more than 82% of the 702 frequency licenses that they placed winning bids.
