Among the potential near-term ramifications of Dish Network affiliates surrendering rights to some spectrum won in the recent AWS-3 auction is the possibility the capital freed up by the move will wind up being deployed in the 600-MHz incentive auctions.
Among the more-likely ramifications is a heightened chance Dish Network eventually will sell its mobile spectrum, and not enter the mobile business.
That, in turn, would mean Dish Network also has to find some other growth plan, as its remaining linear video subscription business is declining.
Two affiliates of Dish Network have surrendered their claims on about $3.5 billion of spectrum licenses after they failed to qualify for small-business discounts.
The entities will keep about $9.8 billion of the licenses, though giving up about 200 licenses.
Some might note that the surrendered licenses are concentrated in a few markets: New York, Chicago and Boston. Whatever other strategy considerations might be at work, the returned spectrum disproportionately represents higher-priced paired-band spectrum, while Dish mostly is keeping the upstream spectrum licenses.
BTIG estimates the returned spectrum is valued at about $1.00/MHz/POP in Dish’s stock price but reduces related liabilities of about $2.61/MHz/POP.
After fines, Dish comes out ahead, some will argue.
Dish Network’s longer-term strategic options are not fundamentally changed by the spectrum forfeitures. Fundamentally, Dish Network gets into the mobile business or sells its spectrum.
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