EchoStar’s AT&T-linked financial morass collected a new layer as its Dish subsidiary filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, a move EchoStar linked to a still outstanding financial windfall from selling most of its wireless spectrum assets to AT&T and SpaceX.EchoStar described the bankruptcy protection move as a “prepackaged” filing that implements terms set forth in a previous reorganization filed in March. It seeks court approval for setting up “timely payments” to various parties seeking compensation from EchoStar’s decommissioning of its facilities-owned 5G network.“Holders of more than 88 percent of Dish DBS’s secured and unsecured notes, who also hold more than $8.8 billion of Dish Wireless debt, have signed the [prepacked plan] and have agreed to support the plan,” EchoStar noted in a press release. “As a result, the filing entities anticipate that all classes of claims will vote to accept, or be deemed to have accepted, the plan.”EchoStar added that as part of the filing, it was asking the bankruptcy court for an “all-trade” motion that will allow it to make “timely payments to vendors, suppliers, partners, retailers, and other trade creditors that provide goods and services to Dish DBS and its pay-TV subsidiaries under existing contractual terms for goods delivered and services performed both before and after the filing.”The company also noted that the filing would not impact a separate $2.4 billion fund set aside as part of its AT&T spectrum sale to pay outstanding bills. That has been an ongoing issue with some vendors that have questioned EchoStar’s decommissioning reasoning and process.“The filing will permit Dish Wireless and its subsidiaries to complete the transition of their business and dispose of their remaining assets in an orderly and expedited manner,” EchoStar noted. “The Chapter 11 process will provide a forum for the determination of all claims against Dish Wireless and the distribution of proceeds from the sale of its remaining assets.”EchoStar also noted that the filing will not impact its Dish TV and Sling TV operations, or EchoStar itself, its Hughes Satellite business, and its commercial Boost Mobile wireless service offerings.The moves also come on the heels of EchoStar making good on delayed interest payments for outstanding notes. The company had originally stated it would delay that $183 million in payments to help maintain “liquidity” ahead of the billions of dollars in payments it expects to receive from AT&T tied to recent spectrum license deals.AT&T deal dragEchoStar, in its latest filing, again pointed to “unforeseen delays” in the closing of the $23 billion AT&T spectrum deal.“As a result of the delayed closing of the AT&T transaction, Dish DBS does not currently have sufficient liquidity to repay the July 1 notes while continuing to pay its ordinary course obligations,” EchoStar explained. “All amounts owed under the July 1 Notes will be paid in full in cash as promptly as possible after closing of the AT&T transaction or on the effective date of the plan.”That deal, which was struck last year, included spectrum in the 600 MHz and 3.45 GHz bands. That deal – alongside a separate spectrum sale to SpaceX – gained approval from the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) last month, but full payment requires the FCC’s order to become final.AT&T, which admitted it paid a premium price for that spectrum, has already started to deploy some of those mid-band spectrum assets.