Dish Reportedly Reaches Deal in T-Mobile-Sprint Merger

Dish Network has reportedly agreed to pay $5 billion for wireless assets in a deal with T-Mobile and Sprint, setting the stage for the Justice Department to approve T-Mobile’s $26.5 billion acquisition of Sprint, reports Bloomberg. Sources say the DOJ could announce it approves the deal as soon as today.

Under the agreement reached after weeks of deliberations, Dish would pay about $1.5 billion for prepaid mobile businesses (likely Boost Mobile) and roughly $3.5 billion for spectrum, sources familiar with the talks told Bloomberg. Dish can’t sell the assets or hand over control of the agreement to a third party for three years. DISH will sign a seven-year wholesale agreement that will allow it to use T-Mobile’s network and market under the Dish brand. The agreement also reportedly includes a three-year service agreement for T-Mobile to provide “operational support” to Dish. Representatives for Dish, T-Mobile, Sprint and the Justice Department declined to comment.

FCC Chairman Ajit Pai recommended in May that his agency clear the deal, but the Justice Department’s antitrust chief, Makan Delrahim, pushed for an agreement that would compensate for the fact that T-Mobile’s merger with Sprint would reduce the number of large carriers from four to three. Dish’s role would satisfy the government’s stipulation that there be four national wireless carriers remaining. Continue Reading

“Shenanigans” Lead to Bigger Tower Fine for WGBN

Because of the public safety risk of a tall tower to aircraft, the FCC escalated a $25,000 fine against Pentecostal Temple Development Corporation to a forfeiture order. Pentecostal Temple is the licensee of WGBN-AM and owns a two-tower array registered under ASR #1026648 (at 206-feet) and #1026650 (just over 200-feet in height) in Lincoln Borough, PA. Both towers were erected in 1947.

The Enforcement Bureau cited Pentecostal in 2016 for failing to properly light the towers and not notifying the FAA the lights were out; it also cited the owner for not cleaning or repainting the structures. Continue Reading

Report: Huawei Secretly Helped North Korea Build Wireless Network

Huawei secretly helped the North Korean government build and maintain the country’s commercial wireless network, according to internal documents obtained by The Washington Post and people familiar with the arrangement. Asked about the report, President Donald Trump said on Monday, “We will have to find out.”

Huawei partnered with a Chinese state-owned firm, Panda International Information Technology Co. Ltd., on a variety of projects there spanning at least eight years, according to past work orders, contracts and spreadsheets taken from a database that charts the company’s telecom operations worldwide. The former Huawei employee who gave the documents to the Post considered the knowledge to be in the public interest.

The documents raise questions about whether Huawei violated U.S. export controls to furnish gear to North Korea. The Commerce Department declined comment; it has investigated alleged links between Huawei and North Korea since 2016, but has not publicly connected the two. Separately, the U.S. Justice Department charged Huawei with bank fraud and violations of U.S. sanctions on Iran. The company pleaded not guilty, reports the Post. Continue Reading

T-Mobile-Sprint Talks With DOJ May be Freezing as Telecoms Face Ultimatum

Negotiations between T-Mobile, Sprint and the Justice Department have been ongoing for weeks as the carriers offer various types of concessions to get their deal approved. The concessions could include divesting spectrum and Boost Mobile in order to create a fourth carrier. But the talks may be stalling. If no agreement is made this week, the Justice Department might sue to block the deal, according to various accounts and first reported by CNBC.

T-Mobile parent Deutsche Telekom is said to be resisting a Dish demand for permission to potentially resell Sprint assets to a cable provider in the future. Wells Fargo Securities analyst Jennifer Fritzsche wrote in an investor note last week that such a move would offer cable operators, “a very clear path to own spectrum.”

Dish Network is reportedly the top bidder and offered an estimated $6 billion for the package. Boost Mobile is a mobile virtual network operator that Sprint owns and that uses Sprint's network. Deutsche Telekom is concerned if it agrees to the divestiture transaction as currently structured, a larger company could acquire Dish and those assets — effectively using the network of a combined T-Mobile-Sprint to compete against DK, according to Yahoo Finance. Continue Reading

Sprint Agrees to Relocate Ripon Tower

The controversial cellular phone tower at Weston Elementary School in Ripon, CA may be relocating to a nearby strawberry farm, according to the Manteca/Ripon Bulletin.

In a meeting held yesterday at a Ripon City Council Meeting (ed: results were not available at deadline) Sprint submitted an application to the San Joaquin County Planning Department to move the tower currently at Weston Elementary School to a location within the county’s land use authority. The application states: “The property where the tower will be located is adjacent to a property that is currently zoned residential in the City’s general plan and by having the tower at this location, would preclude that adjacent property from being developed residential by the City of Ripon that at some point in time it is annexed into the City.”

Studies have since shown a trace of cancer-causing chemicals in the groundwater that was allegedly affecting both the children and residents of the town as reported by Inside Towers on May 6. The initial move by Sprint from the school grounds caused debate within the tower community over whether, by taking the site down, the carrier was showing sensitivity to the 200 local residents who filed a petition, versus admitting by its actions that the telecom was the cause of the problem.

WIA President and CEO Jonathan Adelstein was staunchly in the latter camp. “Sprint went too far in removing the tower when hearing out the community and explaining the science with patience and compassion for the children afflicted by cancer would have been a better response,” Adelstein told Inside Towers. “Now that we know... Continue Reading

C-Band Auction Agreement Proves Elusive

Witnesses discussed aspects of the fight to open up C-band to wireless use before Congress on Tuesday. Incumbent satellite companies on the band have proposed that the FCC let them sell the spectrum privately, while cablecos, Google, and some wireless providers are lobbying for an FCC-run auction.

Earlier in the day, FCC Office of Engineering and Technology Chief Julius Knapp said Chairman Ajit Pai hopes to have some aspects of the C-band proceeding settled this fall. However, while stakeholders are talking with each other, not much conviviality was displayed Tuesday among those who use the spectrum now, and those who want to.

“Without competitive policies to foster competition among providers, rural areas will be left behind,” Competitive Carriers Association SVP Legislative Affairs Tim Donovan told members of the House Energy and Commerce telecom subcommittee. “C-band presents a unique and immediate opportunity for wireless use.” Continue Reading

FCC Says It Has Jurisdiction in Pole Dispute Between ComEd, Crown Castle

UPDATE Score one for Crown Castle in its fight with an Illinois utility over pole attachment rates. The FCC on Monday denied a motion to dismiss the complaint from Commonwealth Edison Company (ComEd), the electric utility that owns or controls poles in the state.

Crown Castle told the Commission in June that ComEd denied it access to poles that the utility said needed to be replaced or reinforced. The case involves more than 900 poles. Crown Castle sought FCC intervention; it said ComEd raised the cost per pole, which was unlawful, and that ComEd also violated the Communications Act when it denied the company access to the poles, Inside Towers reported.   

In the meantime, ComEd filed a motion to dismiss both cases, arguing that the Illinois Commerce Commission, not the FCC, had jurisdiction in the matter. In fact, ComEd said the ICC preempted the FCC jurisdiction in all pole attachment disputes. Continue Reading