Dish hopes a judge will let it skip its tower payments – the question is, what if it's wrong?

American Towers is one of the largest companies that owns and operates cell towers in the United States. It makes money by leasing space on those towers to wireless carriers like Verizon, AT&T, T-Mobile, and Dish Wireless. The carriers use the towers to mount antennas and other equipment that transmit wireless signals to customers.

So, when the recent $40 billion spectrum sale occurred, Dish decided to stop paying for space on American Towers' cell infrastructure. Dish, which is controlled by billionaire Charlie Ergen, argues that it no longer has to maintain those leases because its parent company, EchoStar, was compelled to sell off key wireless spectrum holdings to AT&T and SpaceX.

In its complaint, American Towers accuses Dish of attempting to walk away from "clear and undisputed contractual obligations" by citing its reduced need for tower space following the spectrum sale. The company claims that the transaction with AT&T and SpaceX has no bearing on Dish's legal duty to continue paying for leased tower capacity.

Dish maintains that the forced sale has rendered the agreement meaningless. In letters submitted as part of the lawsuit, the company said the spectrum sale "completely destroyed the value of the agreement" and left Dish unable to fulfill its side of the deal.

Millions of dollars at stake

The lawsuit, filed last week in federal court in Denver, describes a growing dispute between the tower operator and the satellite and wireless group over unpaid lease obligations. American Towers did not specify how much money is in dispute. However, Chief Executive Officer Steven Vondran told investors that Dish accounts for about 4% of the company's property revenue in the US and Canada.

The report states that American Towers earned $5.25 billion from those regions last year, which suggests that Dish paid more than $200 million for tower access in 2024.

A classic standoff

At the end of the day, it's a classic high-stakes standoff between a tower giant and a telecom under pressure. Dish says it's out because the rules changed; American Towers says a deal's a deal. Now it's up to the court to decide who's bluffing and who's bound by the contract.