en.Wedoany.com Reported - Dish DBS plans to sell "substantially all" assets of Dish Wireless, including tens of thousands of radio units, in its Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing, with EchoStar designated as the stalking horse bidder. The first-day hearing is scheduled for later today.

According to the "First Day Declaration" filed on July 1, Dish Wireless' parent company EchoStar was named the stalking horse bidder for any bidder whose offer is deemed higher or better than EchoStar's proposal. Its role is to set a minimum price floor, preventing other potential buyers from submitting unreasonably low bids. The declaration includes a lengthy statement from John Swieringa, President, Chief Operating Officer, and board member of Dish Wireless. According to the "Stalking Horse Asset Purchase Agreement" cited in the declaration, the Dish Wireless debtor group initiated a "market process" prior to the Chapter 11 filing to seek higher or better bids for the assets. The agreement sets a bid deadline of August 10, 2026. If any qualifying bids are received before the deadline, an auction is proposed for August 12, 2026, with a hearing to approve the sale to the winning bidder scheduled for August 17, 2026.

Analysts Walter Piecyk and Joe Galone of LightShed Partners explained in a research note that this approach creates an opportunity for third parties to acquire terrestrial network assets at low prices, similar to how SpaceX is integrating spectrum that could potentially use these assets. They believe the clearest path is for SpaceX, Charter Communications, or another third party to purchase these radio units and then renegotiate lease agreements with tower companies. They also suspect SpaceX may prefer to build its own terrestrial network but acknowledge that SpaceX might find it difficult to pass up cheap radio assets, which could be used to negotiate favorable lease terms.

As of May 5, 2026, Dish Wireless had deployed over 144,000 radio units at 24,000 tower sites across the United States, providing coverage to more than 80% of the country. After EchoStar sold spectrum to AT&T and SpaceX, Dish Wireless retired its 5G network, and EchoStar's Boost Mobile service transitioned to a hybrid MVNO model operating on AT&T's mobile network. In his statement, Swieringa noted that the FCC's directive for EchoStar to rapidly accelerate spectrum sales, or face potential license forfeiture, was "unusual," and to his knowledge, the FCC had never previously required any party to sell its spectrum licenses under threat of termination.

The retirement of Dish Wireless' network has triggered over 170 lawsuits. Dish Wireless stopped making payments to tower companies and other infrastructure providers, arguing that these contracts could be terminated because EchoStar's spectrum sale rendered it unable to operate the 5G network. Dish Wireless also contends that the spectrum is owned by EchoStar, not Dish Wireless, and therefore Dish Wireless is not entitled to any proceeds from the sale. Many former partners disagree with the company's arguments and its force majeure stance. In the "First Day Declaration," Dish Wireless estimated that it has thousands of such tower lease, fiber backhaul service, and related wireless network equipment agreements, with total tower lease rent for Dish Wireless debtors in 2025 amounting to approximately $567.8 million. Dish Wireless and EchoStar have invested approximately $46 billion in building and deploying the 5G network, including over $30 billion for wireless spectrum licenses and over $16 billion for network construction. Dish Wireless stated it has reached settlements with hundreds of companies, but 5G network claimants have filed over 170 lawsuits in state and federal courts, with approximately 85 cases having moved beyond the answer stage into early discovery. The FCC established a $2.4 billion escrow account to cover some potential claims as a condition for approving EchoStar's spectrum sale to AT&T and SpaceX. The trust covers claims under $100,000, as well as future rent and lost profit claims related to supplier agreements. LightShed analysts noted that the FCC escrow account provides limited protection for tower companies, with such lease claims capped at approximately 15% of the claim amount. Since Crown Castle believes it is owed $3.5 billion due to Dish Wireless' default, the claim value is only $525 million. American Tower's contract with Dish Wireless is valued at approximately $2 billion, so 15% amounts to just $300 million. SBA Communications' claim cap may be around $41 million. The analysts added that the total capped claims for these three significant entities are below $900 million, while they are vying for a $2.4 billion pool, and this assumes the tower companies prevail entirely. According to Wireless Estimator's review of creditors involved in the case, Midwest Fiber Holdings holds a $16 billion trade debt claim, followed by T-Mobile ($1.52 billion) and Infosys ($1.24 billion). Other companies on the list include Crown Castle, American Tower, Zayo Group, Comcast, Charter Communications, Cox Communications, and Astound. Notably, Dish is seeking approval for an "all-trade" motion to enable timely payments to suppliers, partners, and other creditors under existing contracts.

Dish DBS's Chapter 11 bankruptcy case aims to repay debt and advance the liquidation of Dish Wireless operations, with approximately 88% of Dish noteholders (representing over $8.8 billion in debt) having signed a restructuring support agreement. New Street Research analyst David Barden believes the decision to file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy "is not as bad as it sounds." He explained that the bottom line is that this is not expected to affect EchoStar's valuation; based on SpaceX's current stock price and the AWS-3 DE auction spectrum valuation, ECHO is still worth $165 per share, and based on a $165 target price for SpaceX, ECHO is valued at $161 per share. Filing for Chapter 11 is expected to pressure Dish creditors who have not yet agreed to the RSA to sign the agreement, allowing the company to continue operations and make agreed payments to noteholders. Barden wrote that this is not EchoStar Chairman Charlie Ergen handing over control of DBS to creditors, but rather a natural extension of the RSA, with business as usual. In Wednesday afternoon trading, EchoStar shares fell 31 cents (-0.31%) to $101.19 per share.