FCC threatens Ergen’s hold on satellite, 5G spectrum licenses, WSJ says

Telecom mogul Charlie Ergen’s war chest is at risk after a U.S. regulator questioned his company’s use of cellular and satellite spectrum licenses-including a chunk of airwaves long sought by Elon Musk’s SpaceX, The Wall Street Journal’s Drew FitzGerald reports. The Federal Communications Commission told Ergen, the chairman and co-founder of network operator EchoStar (SATS), that the agency’s staff would investigate the company’s compliance with federal requirements to build a nationwide 5G network. “The terms of the deal were clear,” FCC Chairman Brendan Carr wrote to Ergen in a letter viewed by The Wall Street Journal. “The FCC structured the buildout obligations to prevent spectrum warehousing and to ensure that Americans would gain broader access to high-speed wireless services, including in underserved and rural areas.”