T-Mobile tells the court not to give Dish an extension to buy its 800MHz spectrum

If you've been following the story, you know that Dish Network has an option to buy low-band 800MHz spectrum from T-Mobile. The latter was told by the FCC to get rid of the spectrum in exchange for regulatory approval of the carrier's merger with Sprint. Most of the low-band spectrum used by T-Mobile is the 600MHz airwaves that are deployed across the country for its nationwide 5G network. That's because low-band spectrum travels longer distances than mid or high-band spectrum although it delivers slower download speeds than the other bands.

The option that Dish has with T-Mobile requires it to pay $3.59 billion for the spectrum and therein lies the problem. The original deadline gave Dish until August 11th to exercise the option, and later that was extended to the end of this month. But without the ability to pay for the spectrum, Dish earlier this month went to the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia and asked for a 10-month extension.

And now it appears that there is another player in this game. Per Fierce Wireless, a research report from New Street Research (NSR) says that engineering and consulting company Burns & McDonnell (B&M) has asked the court to participate in the proceedings involving Dish. NSR still expects the court to give Dish the additional time it is asking for. Analyst Blair Levin told clients that B&M is probably representing the interests of a group of electric utility firms that use spectrum. Many also are clients of B&M.

Levin also noted that the utilities are working with Anterix; this is the company that describes itself as the largest holder of licenses in the 900MHz band. The Chairman is Nextel co-founder Morgan O’Brien. The current holdings of the telecommunications service company, which delivers private broadband to utilities, don't include any nationwide spectrum. As a result, Anterix might also be interested in the 800MHz spectrum.

Meanwhile, Anterix told Fierce Wireless, "We continue to stay close to this and other spectrum expansion opportunities, including talking to the relevant parties to evaluate anything that could be potentially accretive. We clearly know this spectrum band well, as we put it together at Nextel, piece by piece over decades." Sprint acquired Nextel in 2005 and that 800MHz spectrum ended up in T-Mobile's hands after its acquisition of Sprint.

B&M's entry in the court proceedings gives the court another option to choose if it decides not to award the extension to Dish. But it leaves a tough decision for the Department of Justice. NSR's Levin says that the DOJ can "double down" on its bet making Dish the fourth major U.S. wireless competitor, or continue its tradition of not favoring a modification (in this case the extension Dish is asking for) in a Final Judgment involving a merger. Still, the decision whether to grant Dish the extension will be up to the court.

T-Mobile is asking the court to reject the request by Dish for a 10-month extension. LightReading received a statement from the carrier that said, "Our position is explained in the filing: Dish's motion should be denied. They continue to tie up valuable 800MHz spectrum that they have not yet even committed to buy. Their hardship claim is a stalling tactic that is detrimental to putting this spectrum to use for consumers."

The nation's second largest wireless provider also pointed out that the 2019 agreement between it and Dish specifically prevents the companies from delaying the deal due to the financial position of either company. As T-Mobile told the court, ""The possibility that Dish might find it 'more onerous than anticipated' to obtain financing was not only foreseen by the parties but specifically addressed and prohibited as a basis for not performing on their contract."

T-Mobile already mentioned that Burns & McDonnell are also interested in the 800MHz airwaves. "In fact, several potential auction participants have already expressed interest in purchasing the 800MHz spectrum licenses from T-Mobile." 

T-Mobile wrote, "Burns & McDonnell Engineering states that it has been 'planning for years' to purchase the spectrum if Dish does not buy it. Burns & McDonnell reports that it would 'leverage the nationwide spectrum for targeted community benefit enabling critical infrastructure operators like electric utilities to deploy wireless broadband networks.' The sooner the licenses are sold, the better."