T-Mobile Agrees to Give Dish More Time to Buy 800 MHz Spectrum
The two companies and the DOJ filed a motion with the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia Wednesday agreeing to give Dish Network extra time to buy 800 MHz licenses from T-Mobile. DOJ previously filed in support of…
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giving Dish until April 1 to buy the spectrum, or pay a $72 million fee for walking away from the deal (see 2309190061). Dish asked for an extension through June 30. When DOJ filed “we thought the Judge was very likely to agree with the DOJ position,” said a New Street note to investors: “We think this filing increases the odds even higher, as there are now no parties in opposition to the extension.” The option to buy the licenses was part of a series of agreements tied to T-Mobile’s buy of Sprint, aimed at helping Dish emerge as a fourth national wireless provider (see 2308170065). “Acquiring Defendant and Divesting Defendant will make reasonable efforts to secure timely approval by the FCC of the transfer of the spectrum,” the filing said. “Notwithstanding any other provision in this Amended Final Judgment, there shall be no extension of the Closing Deadline for any reason, whether foreseeable or not, except at the sole discretion of Divesting Defendants and with the consent of the United States.”