The FCC has the ability to make EchoStar honor its obligations as a condition of transaction approval.

Your editorial “Charlie Ergen, Space X and Trump” (March 31) is spot on that the planned $40 billion transfer of valuable spectrum from EchoStar to AT&T and Space X is critically important to the future of American tech/telecom dominance. Spectrum is a scarce resource and it needs to be put to use.

But there’s a major complication to the sale. Charlie Ergen’s company owes billions to cell tower operators and the workers who built out the network that made this sale possible. Mr. Ergen has offered bogus claims that these debts should be forgiven due to “force majeure” and is further using shell games to protect a windfall of up to $20 billion. Under this scheme, the hardworking American companies and contractors take big losses, while EchoStar and Mr. Ergen walk away with massive profits.