Dish Network last week met with FCC officials to discuss potential issues with the proposed Sprint, Softbank and Clearwire deal.
According to a regulatory filing, Dish urged the FCC to insist Softbank and Sprint fully divulge their plans for utilizing the spectrum licenses they stand to inherit from Clearwire. In addition, Dish reiterated that the FCC should apply its spectrum screen to Clearwire’s 2.5GHz airwaves.
Dish also cited direct concerns with placing a single company in sole control of the spectrum.
“This would have significant effects on, among others, international carriers who use the 2.5 GHz band, because Sprint would be their only roaming partner in the U.S. for those frequencies,” Dish wrote in the filing.
Finally, Dish expressed concerns with Sprint’s request for the FCC to rule against it having to make an “anti-windfall” payment of $2.8 billion pursuant to the FCC’s 800 MHz and 1990-2025 MHz rebanding orders.
“Only $945.6 million of the amount Sprint claims towards the $2.8 billion anti-windfall payment has been subject to an independent third-party review (the TA’s review) and deemed creditable,” Dish added.
Sprint last year proposed acquiring the roughly 50 percent of Cleawire it doesn’t already own at a rate of $2.97 per share. The deal came as Japanese carrier Softbank worked toward approval of its proposed $20 billion offer to acquire a 70 percent stake in Sprint.
In January, Dish made an unsolicited offer of $3.30 per share to buy the remaining shares of Clearwire.