DISH LANDLORD UPDATE: EchoStar establish an escrow account of $2.4 billion.
AT&T VERIZON T-MOBILE Announce Join Venture for Satellite MVNO
CREDIT: TWO IMPORTANT WIRELESS INDUSTRY NEWS UPDATES from FIERCE NETWORK Reporter: MONICA ALLEVEN
Blog post by Steve Kazella , a Managing Partner at Tower Genius LLC.
Is their light at the end of the tunnel for DISH cell tower and cell site landlords left holding the bag?
FIERCE NETWORK Reporter MONICA ALLEVEN Article #1: May 12, 2026 4:05pm The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) gave its blessing to EchoStar’s $40 billion spectrum sales to AT&T and SpaceX, with the condition that EchoStar establish an escrow account of $2.4 billion. (Monica Alleven, Fierce Network) https://www.fierce-network.com/wireless/fcc-gives-conditional-ok-echostars-spectrum-sales-att-spacex
FIERCE NETWORK Reporter MONICA ALLEVEN Article #2: May 14, 2026 10:58am “AT&T, T-Mobile and Verizon are pooling their spectrum resources and forming a new joint venture to end dead zones in the U.S., including rural areas.” …”The move comes as the industry increasingly worries about what Elon Musk’s Starlink Mobile might do to shake up the terrestrial mobile space.” … “both AT&T and Verizon are invested in AST SpaceMobile.“ (Monica Alleven, Fierce Network) https://www.fierce-network.com/wireless/att-t-mobile-and-verizon-form-jv-satellite-dead-zone-coverage
(Tower Genius) In my opinion, the truth about all the problems related to EchoStar and DISH is that this mess is a direct result of T-Mobile’s acquisition of Sprint, which never should have been approved in the first place. But in their wisdom, the regulators gave this train wreck called DISH the green light to build out their 5G network — and now AT&T, along with the love-him-or-hate-him Wile E. Coyote “have brain will travel” Super Genius disruptor of the Wireless Galaxy, Elon Musk, Starlink, and SpaceX, own the spectrum.
Which leads me to admit something: the former CEO of T-Mobile, John Legere, is my real hero. Why? Because he saw what was coming. Mr. Legere, aka Mr. Slow Cooker Sunday, is still laughing all the way back from the bank after stepping down as CEO of T-Mobile — if I remember correctly, the day after the T-Mobile/Sprint merger was approved in 2020.
Tower Genius LLC was very vocal in our opposition to the T-Mobile/Sprint deal because we believed it would be bad for consumers. And what was the requirement of that merger? DISH needed to become the 4th carrier to take Sprint’s place in the marketplace.
So how did consumers actually benefit from DISH’s 5G network? After the Sprint/T-Mobile merger, DISH took on 9.3 million Sprint and Boost prepaid subscribers — and never grew that customer base. In fact, they lost millions of customers after the merger. Those absorbed Sprint and Boost customers were placed on T-Mobile’s MVNO network (Mobile Virtual Network Operator), with access to both T-Mobile’s and AT&T’s networks.
Now, finally, I’m hopeful there is a light at the end of the tunnel for cell tower and cell site landlords who have been left holding the bag by our friends in Denver, DISH and EchoStar.
The FCC just approved EchoStar’s $40 billion spectrum sale: roughly 50 MHz to AT&T for its 5G network, and roughly 65 MHz to SpaceX for Starlink’s direct-to-device service. Boost Mobile continues, but as a hybrid MVNO running primarily on AT&T’s network.
As reported by FierceNetwork’s Monica Allen, the FCC just approved the $40 BILLION spectrum transfer moving DISH’s spectrum from EchoStar to AT&T and Starlink.
Here’s what every DISH cell site landlord needs to know.
Tower Genius Fun Fact: DISH and EchoStar headquarters sat just 4 minutes and 20 seconds apart in Denver before their merger — if you were traveling by car, exceeding the speed limit, and didn’t hit any traffic lights. We’re not saying their attorneys were enjoying Colorado’s finest “granola” when they fired off those absurd force majeure letters to landlords… but we wouldn’t be shocked either.
ATTENTION DISH LANDLORDS
Whether you’re a:
- Rooftop cell site landlord with DISH equipment
- Ground lease landlord with DISH as a direct tenant
- Tower property owner with DISH as a subtenant on American Tower, Crown Castle, or SBA
…yesterday’s FCC decision is potentially great news for you.
Did DISH stop paying rent in December? Did your rental revenue share suddenly disappear? With the spectrum officially moving to AT&T, most DISH sites are already overlayed by existing AT&T coverage — meaning they should be decommissioned, not renegotiated.
TOWER GENIUS PRO TIP: Do NOT grant DISH a rent reduction unless your lease is defective and doesn’t require them to remove their equipment.
Check your lease language carefully:
- “MAY remove” = Red flag — they can leave their scrap metal behind
- “SHALL remove” = You’re protected
Trust us — nobody wants abandoned DISH equipment on their roof. Not even Elon Musk. The 65 MHz spectrum heading to Starlink is for satellite-to-phone service (cell towers in space), NOT rooftops or vacant land.
The Tower Genius Home Alone Guide to Handling DISH Rent Reduction Requests
Here is a satirical step-by-step instructional video that Tower Genius may have taken certain liberties in “borrowing” from Home Alone, on how to handle the ridiculous rent reduction proposals you will likely get from DISH as they scramble to decommission thousands of sites:
- As long as your lease says they MUST or SHALL remove their equipment, tell them no rent reduction.
- Demand they pay you what they owe in back rent plus holdover penalties (if you had them included in your lease).
- Tell them to get their equipment off your property.
- And remember to say “keep the change, ya filthy animals” before you slam the phone on them.
Need help navigating your DISH lease situation? Tower Genius LLC has your back.
SAD BUT IN 2026 WE MUST SAY THAT THIS IS SATIRE:
