EchoStar Finds Allies and Faces New Questions in Twin FCC Probes

"Now is not the time" for the FCC to reconsider the buildout obligations, Incompas said. It said the extended deadlines that EchoStar negotiated with the FCC were consistent with long-standing agency precedent. Revisiting those obligations "would undermine regulatory certainty and threaten to disrupt ongoing investments in advanced network infrastructure." In addition, opening up the 2 GHz band to new entrants could mean "massive interference" and hurt efforts to provide competitive broadband nationwide, Incompas said.

Leave the existing extension of EchoStar’s license buildout obligations in place, the Competitive Carriers Association said. Given the money required to get spectrum licenses and to build out networks, "licensees demonstrating good faith to meet these challenges should not be punished by losing their spectrum, or even worse, their businesses." The group said FCC actions against EchoStar could set a harmful precedent for other spectrum bands "and have the consequence of broadly chilling spectrum and network investments as well as future auctions."

The Rural Wireless Association endorsed the dismissal of VTel's recon petition, saying EchoStar has actively made its spectrum available for use by small, rural carriers in areas where it hasn't yet deployed 5G. Those leasing arrangements are enabling rapid deployment of broadband infrastructure in hard-to-serve areas, it said, adding that VTel hasn't made a persuasive case for reconsideration under the public-interest standard.

EchoStar has invested heavily in the band, Public Knowledge and New America's Open Technology Institute noted, and FCC action could "cause millions of Americans to lose vital services for 911 access, as well as for mobile voice and data services. The combined 5G network and 2 GHz band proceedings "would cripple the ability of Boost to become a fourth national mobile wireless competitor," the groups said. Adding new MSS entrants in the 2 GHz band at the expense of ancillary terrestrial component use -- "fundamentally altering the balance between terrestrial and satellite use" -- shouldn't be done hastily at the bureau level. They said that while SpaceX, which is seeking access to the 2 GHz band, has indicated it can coexist with the incumbent EchoStar, the proposal lacks technical specificity. SpaceX also hasn't shown any technological developments that would make sharing feasible now after it was deemed otherwise in the past, they said.

'A Dark Cloud'

Also backing EchoStar were some of its 5G network partners. Tower Ventures said EchoStar's buildout is providing connectivity and creating tower jobs, and disrupting that "would be incredibly disappointing and harmful to our business." Nearly identical letters of support came from Industrial Tower West and Skyway Towers. Numerous general contractors and vendors working with EchoStar also expressed support.

Terrestar Solutions, co-owner with EchoStar of the Terrestar-1 satellite, said introducing new players into the 2 GHz band in the U.S. would complicate MSS coordination efforts along the U.S./Canada border, leading to more dysfunctional coordination between MSS and terrestrial services.

In its own 89-page submission, EchoStar said the public notices are hurting its ongoing deployment, "threaten[ing] its viability as a wireless provider" and endangering its video and broadband services. "These actions have created a dark cloud of uncertainty over EchoStar’s spectrum rights" and its open radio access network (ORAN) 5G efforts. "This cloud has effectively frozen EchoStar’s decision making -- it cannot reasonably invest more capital into a buildout if the Commission indicates it may take away its licenses through unprecedented actions." The company asked the commission to deny the VTel recon petition; confirm that EchoStar has satisfied its 2024 commitments, thus triggering the extensions; and reaffirm EchoStar's exclusive rights as the incumbent AWS-4 and MSS licensee in the 2000-2020 MHz and 2180-2200 MHz bands.

'Serious Reasons to Doubt'

SpaceX -- which has aggressively pursued access to the 2 GHz band (see 2402230027 and 2505150002) -- accused EchoStar of sitting on the spectrum with "no credible plan" to deliver 2 GHz MSS in the U.S. It said company management has indicated that EchoStar is waiting for some future date to deploy a non-geostationary orbit system that for now isn't authorized, "thereby continuing to deny MSS to Americans in the interim. In other words: warehousing." In a separate filing, SpaceX said the FCC never gave the Wireless Bureau such broad authority to give EchoStar the 5G buildout extension. It waved off EchoStar's arguments for an extension -- which revolved around the pandemic, the Russia/Ukraine war and T-Mobile's sunset of Sprint's code-division multiple access network -- as part of a "growing pile of EchoStar’s excuses for not following Commission rules over the past two decades."

The usefulness of ORAN technology or the competitive benefits of a fourth national wireless carrier don't give the FCC Wireless Bureau the legal authority it lacks to extend EchoStar's buildout deadlines, VTel Wireless said. Nor do wireless competition and ORAN issues fix EchoStar's failure to offer specific facts and circumstances to justify a waiver, it added.

While EchoStar has "accomplished much of the Herculean task of building a US-wide wireless network from scratch in just a few short years," Spectrum Financial Partners said, there are "serious reasons to doubt" its claims of meeting its buildout deadlines thus far. It said EchoStar is using low-band 600 MHz unlink spectrum paired with its AWS-3 and AWS-4 downlink spectrum to satisfy the AWS-3 and AWS-4 midland coverage buildout requirements. EchoStar is also inflating its coverage using an ink budget -- a calculation of the signal level needed to reach a receiver -- that is out of line with industry practice, the consulting firm said. It added that it's not definitively asserting noncompliance, but it "has seen enough to raise serious and unresolved questions about whether EchoStar has met its construction and performance obligations in both letter and spirit."

Opening 2 GHz

Some satellite operators used their comments to argue for opening up the 2 GHz band. Sateliot said it and others looking to implement the 3rd Generation Partnership Project's narrowband IoT satellite standard need access to the 2 GHz band to allow satellite/terrestrial narrowband IoT interoperability. Other countries "have a burgeoning and innovative IoT service industry" with access to the 2 GHz MSS band using the 3GPP NB-IoT non-terrestrial network protocol, but U.S. satellite service offerings "remain stagnant in the 2 GHz band." Iridium said that if the FCC determines that the 2 GHz band is underused for MSS, it should accept new MSS applications. In that case, the Mobile Satellite Services Association said, the FCC should establish a filing window to guarantee a level playing field for competing applications.

Omnispace said the best way to foster more intensive use of the 2 GHz band for MSS would be to reverse 2000-2020 MHz band use from uplink to downlink. Keeping the current improper directionality would limit direct-to-device (D2D) availability in the 2 GHz band "and place our nation at a disadvantage -- especially with respect to China -- as technology progresses into the 6G era." Giving multiple MSS operators exclusive access to a portion of both the 2000-2020 MHz and 2180-2200 MHz bands would benefit D2D service "and reflect the advancement toward a completely converged 6G terrestrial-satellite wireless ecosystem," Omnispace said. Skylo Technologies called for allocating the entire 2000-2025 MHz swath for MSS unlinks in the U.S., saying it would benefit D2D service deployment and "set the stage for a global 2010-2025 MHz MSS allocation as well."

Not taking a stance on EchoStar issues, the Open RAN Policy Coalition said the FCC must be sure to consider the policy implications of how any action affects ORAN "at a time when the U.S. must lead in trusted, next-generation infrastructure."