Trump Urged Ergen, Carr to Cut a Deal on EchoStar Spectrum

Mint

15 hours ago

President Donald Trump has intervened to push EchoStar Corp. and Federal Communications Commission Chairman Brendan Carr to resolve a dispute over the satellite communications company's valuable spectrum licenses.
The FCC in May launched an investigation into whether EchoStar was meeting certain obligations for its wireless and satellite spectrum rights. In response, EchoStar has been skipping bond coupon payments and is considering filing for bankruptcy. The company has said the FCC's threats have 'effectively frozen our ability to make decisions' about its 5G network buildout.
After multiple rebuffed attempts to speak directly to Carr, EchoStar President Charlie Ergen finally sat down with the chairman late Wednesday afternoon in the FCC's Washington headquarters, according to people familiar with the meetings. Carr told Ergen that EchoStar needs to start selling some of its spectrum licenses, the people said, asking not to be identified discussing private information. Otherwise, Carr told Ergen, the company risks losing them.
The next day, Ergen met with Trump at the White House to make his case, the people said. The president said he didn't want a major American company to go bankrupt, as it would create uncertainties for other businesses. In the midst of the conversation, Trump telephoned Carr, who came to the Oval Office and joined the meeting.
The discussions included a brief exchange about Ergen's political donations and whether he gave to both Republican and Democrat candidates, some of the people said.
At one point Trump also called Newsmax Inc. founder Chris Ruddy to ask if EchoStar's DISH satellite TV service carried conservative news outlets like his, according to people familiar with the matter.
'Newsmax has had a very positive relationship with the DISH network and we appreciate them giving diverse voices, including us, the ability to reach their subscribers,' Ruddy said in a statement, when asked for comment about the meeting.
The meeting concluded with the president encouraging Carr and Ergen to work together and reach some kind of deal, the people said.
EchoStar declined to comment. Carr and representatives for his office didn't respond to multiple requests for comment. The White House didn't immediately respond to a request to comment on the specifics of the meeting between Ergen and the President.
The FCC initially blessed EchoStar's ambition to become a fourth national wireless carrier, using pioneering technology that lets more companies participate in the buildout of the network. But in a letter sent to Ergen last month, Carr questioned whether EchoStar has adequately made use of its spectrum licenses, including a portion of the airwaves that has been long coveted by Elon Musk's satellite communications company SpaceX.
EchoStar owns the Dish Network pay-TV brand and the Boost Mobile wireless service. It has spent billions of dollars and several years trying to build a nationwide communications network to compete with AT&T Inc., Verizon Communications Inc. and T-Mobile US Inc. But Carr has suggested EchoStar is moving too slowly and not achieving agreed upon targets for coverage, leading to 'spectrum warehousing,' or unused portions of spectrum.
Starlink has publicly pointed to what it characterizes as EchoStar's wasted bandwidth to argue for regulatory action.
In the worst-case scenario for EchoStar, the FCC could find that it has not met obligations to use its spectrum licenses and reclaim at least some of them. Former FCC Commissioner Nathan Simington, a Republican who recently left the agency, wrote in an opinion piece that Carr should drop the probes.
With assistance from Hannah Miller.
This article was generated from an automated news agency feed without modifications to text.