Dish’s bankruptcy exposes the messy aftermath of its 5G gamble

One of the biggest things to emerge from Dish’s bankruptcy filing is EchoStar’s plan to sell Dish Wireless, with EchoStar acting as a stalking horse bidder, meaning it would set a minimum price for the assets. Under the plan submitted to the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Texas in Houston, Dish Wireless intends to sell “substantially all” of its assets to EchoStar as the stalking horse bidder or to “any party that submits a bid determined to be higher or better than EchoStar’s proposal.” This was presented as part of a prepackaged plan supported by more than 88% of Dish DBS bondholders. However, tower companies objected to EchoStar’s attempt to fast-track both the Dish DBS pay TV service and Dish Wireless cases, arguing that they’re two completely different proceedings and should be treated as such. Bankruptcy Court Judge Christopher Lopez ruled that the wireless portion of the proceeding should be given more time, with a follow-up hearing to be held July 8 at the earliest.