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Dish Network Requests More Time from FCC to Petition SoftBank/Sprint Deal

By Rebecca Lincks | December 28, 2012

[Satellite TODAY 12-28-12] Dish Network plans to request more time from the Federal Communications Commissions (FCC) to file a petition against Japan’s SoftBank deal to take over Sprint Nextel, the company announced Dec. 28.

Dish Network’s opposition of SoftBankCorp.’s proposal to buy Sprint’s 70 percent stake for $20.1 billion is due to Sprint’s recent plan to buyback Clearwire for $2.2 billion. The acquisition of Clearwire will not only make Sprint the largest Spectrum holder in the United States with 185 MHz of combined spectrum but will also widen the gap with two top carriers Verizon Wireless and AT&T.
Dish Network recently received the FCC’s approval to utilize those unused spectrum to set up a wireless network and believes that Sprint’s decision to acquire full stake in Clearwire will create a largely dominant force in the wireless industry.
If SoftBank acquires Sprint, it will give access to nearly 184 MHz of spectrum (51 MHz of Sprint and 134 MHz of Clearwire)—making a foreign company the largest holder of spectrum.