US: Dish rethinks wireless plans after FCC denies $3.3 billion spectrum auction discount

Satellite TV provider Dish Network said regulators have sent it mixed messages about its prospects for competing in the wireless market.

Dish Chairman Charlie Ergen said during the company’s second-quarter conference call that the Federal Communications Commission’s decision to deny a $3.3 billion credit it gave to two of Dish’s affiliates in the last spectrum auction, which ended in January, has likely killed its plans to pursue a reported merger with wireless provider T-Mobile. And he suggested the company may sit out the next wireless auction of TV broadcast spectrum set for early next year.

For several years, Dish has been amassing a treasure trove of wireless spectrum or the airwaves that carry text messages, voice calls, streaming video and Internet content to mobile devices. The company emerged as the second-highest bidder in the FCC’s so-called AWS-3 auction, which generated a record $45 billion in revenue for the federal government. Dish’s participation in the auction not only helped drive up prices but also ensured that AT&T and Verizon, which together control more than 70 percent of the wireless market, did not walk away with all the spectrum licenses in the auction.

Full content: Nasdaq

Want more news? Subscribe to CPI’s free daily newsletter for more headlines and updates on antitrust developments around the world.