By Shalini Ramachandran
Dish Network Corp. confirmed Wednesday that Federal
Communications Commission Chairman Tom Wheeler has circulated a
draft order to deny $3.3 billion in small business discounts sought
by the satellite provider's affiliated entities in an airwaves
auction earlier this year.
In a statement, Dish Executive Vice President Stanton Dodge said
"we respectfully disagree with the proposed denial of the bidding
credits." He said Dish followed all the legal requirements needed
to qualify and noted that the satellite provider's participation in
the auction helped make it the "most successful" one in the FCC's
history.
Dish said it met with the FCC's wireless bureau Wednesday and
was told about the contents of the order, which was first reported
by The Wall Street Journal last week. The FCC staff's analysis
found that Dish does, in fact, have a "controlling interest" in its
affiliated bidding entities, SNR Wireless and Northstar Wireless.
Therefore, Dish's revenues were attributed to those entities,
making them ineligible for the 25% bidding credit for small
businesses under the FCC's rules, Dish said in the statement.
Dish provided 85% of the capital in both Northstar and SNR. But
in filings with the FCC, both entities had reported revenue of less
than $15 million and said that Dish didn't control them. The two
entities won $13.3 billion in wireless licenses in the auction
earlier this year.
The FCC found that SNR and Northstar are still eligible to hold
those licenses, Dish said in the statement. The agency told Dish
representatives in the meeting that it will not designate the
matter for a hearing or refer it to the enforcement bureau or
Justice Department.
The draft order still requires approval from a majority of the
commissioners to go into effect.
An FCC spokeswoman declined to comment.
Write to Shalini Ramachandran at
shalini.ramachandran@wsj.com
Access Investor Kit for DISH Network Corp.
Visit
http://www.companyspotlight.com/partner?cp_code=P479&isin=US25470M1099
Subscribe to WSJ: http://online.wsj.com?mod=djnwires