FCC likely to deny DISH?s auction scam, $3.3 billion in discounts

The Wall Street Journal reports that the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is set to reject DISH Network’s claim to $3.3 billion in small business credits after DISH manipulated FCC auction rules. The company coordinated with two smaller companies, SNR Wireless and Northstar Wireless, to win wireless licenses valued at more than $13 billion in the recent AWS-3 spectrum auction. SNR Wireless and Northstar, in whichDISH has an 85 percent financial interest, claim they are entitled to a $3.3 billion in bidding credit – a 25 percent discount – because they are “small businesses.”

According to the Wall Street Journal, which cited sources familiar with the matter, the FCC staff disagrees: “After a long review, staff at the Federal Communications Commission concluded that the $13.3 billion in winning bids by two companies backed by Dish didn’t qualify for the small-business discounts because their bidding conduct violated the broad spirit of the auction’s rules.”

As Speed Matters wrote in the past, the small business credits are available through the Designated Entity (DE) program, which is designed to give credits to small, minority- and women-owned business so they can participate in the spectrum marketplace.

The Communications Workers of America (CWA) and the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) filed aPetition to Deny the credits to DISH after the FCC called forpublic comments. CWA and the NAACP support the spirit of the DE program, and argued against DISH’s manipulation in their petition: “Through their affiliation with DISH, Northstar and SNR do not qualify under the Commission’s rules as small businesses eligible for DE bidding credits.”

FCC Poised to Reject Dish Partners’ Spectrum Discounts (Wall Street Journal, July 16, 2015)

CWA, NAACP file FCC Petition to Deny DISH’s auction abuse (Speed Matters, May 18, 2015)