FCC might reject Dish's "small business" discounts from last auction

Dish's Ergen: May not keep spectrum haul if discounts denied
Aug 5 2015, 15:59 ET | By: Jason Aycock, SA News Editor http://seekingalpha.com/news/269732...-spectrum-haul-if-discounts-denied#email_link

Dish Network's (NASDAQ:DISH) Charlie Ergen may not be holding on to all those airwaves after all, saying on today's earnings call that the company may have to sell or lease spectrum after an expected order that would waive $3.3B in discounts from the AWS-3 auction.
The FCC's stance also rippled through to M&A, he suggested, representing the biggest impediment to a discussed merger with T-Mobile that stagnated: "From our perspective, the discount was the most complicating factor."
Ergen was complimentary about the FCC, but said it was picking winners and losers and that if the company's credits are ultimately denied, it sends a "pretty strong signal you are probably not going to get into the marketplace as a new entrant."
 
Dish exploring next steps as it awaits airwaves discount decision http://finance.yahoo.com/news/satellite-tv-company-dishs-revenue-101842667.html
Dish Network Corp (DISH.O) is figuring out next steps as it awaits a decision by U.S. regulators on its eligibility for a discount in a recent airwaves auction, executives said on Wednesday, after the company posted a significantly higher-than-expected quarterly profit.Federal Communications Commission officials told Dish last month that a staff review of the auction, which ended in January, found Dish affiliates SNR and Northstar ineligible for $3.3 billion in small-business discounts.Following the record-setting $45 billion auction, FCC officials reviewed $13.3 billion of winning bids by SNR and Northstar. A rejection of the discount would mean SNR and Northstar would have to pay $3.3 billion back to the FCC to keep the spectrum licenses they won in the auction.If the FCC decides against Dish, Chief Executive Charlie Ergen said on a call with analysts, the company and its affiliates will be left with three options: filing a lawsuit, not paying the money and incurring a penalty, or paying back the discount."I don't know exactly whether you would pay and then sue or just sue," Ergen said. "I don't think we know until we see the order."
 
I think he's hoping that by the time the lawsuit works its way out, Dish will either be mega-masters of wireless content delivery or out of business, and either way the 3.3 billion will be moot.
 
Dish hasn't done a single thing right towards business continuation in the last 10 years. Buying companies and such with big plans, and then not following through and dumping them later isn't a good plan. But he keeps doing it over and over...

I don't know WTF is going on with Charlie, but he seems to have lost follow-through to his initial direction/schemes. It appears he knows he needs to do SOMETHING to hold onto business, or generate new business, but he's not quite sure what that is...

He certainly is real good at alienating his present subscriber base though...
 
Dish hasn't done a single thing right towards business continuation in the last 10 years. Buying companies and such with big plans, and then not following through and dumping them later isn't a good plan. But he keeps doing it over and over...

I don't know WTF is going on with Charlie, but he seems to have lost follow-through to his initial direction/schemes. It appears he knows he needs to do SOMETHING to hold onto business, or generate new business, but he's not quite sure what that is...

He certainly is real good at alienating his present subscriber base though...

Dish has done a few things right. The problem is that they waste so much money trying to find a diamond in the rough.

Sling was a good investment unlike blockbuster which turned out to be a total flop
 
I just read that Charlie says because of the FCC ruling over the bandwith sold at a discount will not be allowed, the merger with T-mobile is effectively DEAD. So here we are again with no dance partner. With only 1 year and a half left to use the bandwith or lose it , I guess Charlie will sell the bandwith since he has no partner to use it with. Too bad. I wanted that T-mobile merger to go through.
 
I just read that Charlie says because of the FCC ruling over the bandwith sold at a discount will not be allowed, the merger with T-mobile is effectively DEAD. So here we are again with no dance partner. With only 1 year and a half left to use the bandwith or lose it , I guess Charlie will sell the bandwith since he has no partner to use it with. Too bad. I wanted that T-mobile merger to go through.
None of the dish mergers seem to work
 
Sling was a good acquisition and Hughes seems to be doing well at Echostar. AT&T and Verizon have played this auction game before. But the FCC never stepped on their feet. I don't think they (the FCC) really want competition in wireless.
 
I just don't know enough even with reading about it to know if DISH really went outside the rules or the FCC simply does not like that DISH found a way to stay inside the rules and pull it off.
I'm leaning towards someone/some competitors complained AFTER the FCC allowed the auction to continue with no hint they had any problems with the bidding by DISH.
 
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