FCC and EchoStar Enter Into Settlement Agreement Related to Auction 97

The Federal Communications Commission and EchoStar Corporation—parent company of DISH Network—reached a settlement agreement on May 28, 2026, resolving a long-running debt stemming from DISH subsidiaries Northstar Wireless and SNR Wireless defaulting on winning bids from FCC Auction 97, a 2015 spectrum auction. The defaulted bids created a potential liability of roughly $3.95 billion, covering both the bid deficiency payments ($3.44 billion) and an additional 15% penalty ($515.6 million). The FCC has scheduled a new auction—Auction 113—to re-sell the underlying spectrum, and the settlement amount EchoStar will owe depends directly on how much that spectrum fetches: EchoStar pays the difference between the original bid deficiency amount and what the new auction generates, minus $515.6 million in payments DISH already made in 2015. As part of the deal, EchoStar agreed to drop a pending legal challenge it had filed against the FCC in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit. Once EchoStar makes its final payment, the FCC releases all related claims against EchoStar and its affiliates. If EchoStar fails to pay or otherwise defaults, the FCC can reinstate the full original debt, seek court enforcement, or terminate the agreement entirely.