T-Mobile Agrees to Give Dish More Time to Buy 800 MHz Spectrum

Dish Network, T-Mobile and the DOJ filed a motion Wednesday (docket 1:19-cv-02232) with the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia agreeing to give Dish extra time to buy 800 MHz licenses from T-Mobile. DOJ previously filed in support of giving Dish until April 1 to buy the spectrum, or pay a $72 million fee for walking away from the deal (see 2309190061). As part of the agreement, Dish will pay a $100 million extension fee to T-Mobile, the companies said. Dish had asked for an extension through June 30. When DOJ filed “we thought the Judge was very likely to agree with the DOJ position,” said a New Street note to investors: “We think this filing increases the odds even higher, as there are now no parties in opposition to the extension.” The option to buy the licenses was part of a series of agreements tied to T-Mobile’s buy of Sprint, aimed at helping Dish emerge as fourth national wireless provider (see 2308170065). “Acquiring Defendant and Divesting Defendant will make reasonable efforts to secure timely approval by the FCC of the transfer of the spectrum,” the filing said. “Notwithstanding any other provision in this Amended Final Judgment, there shall be no extension of the Closing Deadline for any reason, whether foreseeable or not, except at the sole discretion of Divesting Defendants and with the consent of the United States.” The court “has jurisdiction to modify the Final Judgment pursuant to Section XVII of the Final Judgment, Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 60(b)(5), and the Court’s inherent authority to enforce its lawful orders, including the ‘power to construe and interpret the language of the judgment’ and to modify a decree of injunctive relief,” the filing said: “Where all parties to the agreement consent to the modification, a court need only review the modification to ensure that it is in the ‘public interest.’” The proposed modified final judgment is in the public interest, the parties said. “The Final Judgment was designed from the outset to provide DISH the first opportunity to purchase the spectrum, and as such is consistent with this Court’s original public interest determination regarding T-Mobile’s spectrum divestiture,” they said.