DISH DBS provides pay-TV services through DISH Network and Sling TV. Credit: Dish Network
TAMPA, Fla. — EchoStar subsidiaries tied to its satellite TV and abandoned 5G network businesses have filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, advancing a prepackaged restructuring plan to repay debt early after selling spectrum to SpaceX and AT&T.
DISH DBS said June 30 that it and certain subsidiaries, including DISH Wireless, had filed the cases in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Texas.
The reorganization plan leaves untouched a $2.4 billion escrow that EchoStar must set aside to cover disputes over its abandoned terrestrial wireless buildout, a condition the Federal Communications Commission attached to its approval of spectrum sales totaling more than $40 billion.
“EchoStar has been at the forefront of telecommunications for over 45 years, and these steps will position the business for an even stronger future,” EchoStar cofounder and chairman Charlie Ergen said in a statement.
