EchoStar to FCC: Tower Escrow Could Jeopardize Spectrum Deals

WASHINGTON, May 11, 2026 – Tower companies and other infrastructure providers are asking federal regulators to force EchoStar to put aside spectrum sale proceeds to pay what they say they’re owed. EchoStar said the requirement could end the $40 billion deals.

“If an escrow condition is involuntarily imposed, it would directly jeopardize the transactions themselves,” the company wrote in a filing with the Federal Communications Commission posted Monday. “It would also set a damaging precedent that will open the floodgates for litigants to seek redress against companies with business in front of the Commission while prosecuting their cases in court.”

Since EchoStar reached deals with SpaceX and AT&T to sell much of its spectrum, its subsidiary Dish Wireless has been telling tower companies and other business partners that it is exempt from their contracts and leases. The sales were forced by FCC pressure, the companies say, and Dish won’t receive any of the billions in proceeds, leaving Dish unable to pay its bills through no fault of its own.

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