Op-Ed: The Trump administration is putting America’s airwaves back to work via Brendan Carr and the FCC

Originally published by the Washington Reporter.

By Patrick Halley, WIA President and CEO, on behalf of the American Wireless Builders Coalition.

America’s wireless airwaves are our country’s invisible infrastructure, as essential to the modern economy as roads, bridges, and power lines. For years, a portion of these licensed airwaves — a precious public resource — sat underutilized, failing to deliver the connectivity Americans were promised. This week, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) and its Chairman, Brendan Carr, took a big step to change that.

On Tuesday, the FCC approved an over $40 billion sale of spectrum licenses from EchoStar and its subsidiary DISH to AT&T and SpaceX, while requiring that funds be set aside to ensure that the builders of that network are protected. It was a landmark decision — one that put spectrum back to work for the American public while holding corporations accountable.

The American Wireless Builders Coalition — representing tower companies, fiber providers, contractors, property owners, and the hundreds of thousands of workers who build and maintain America’s wireless networks — congratulates FCC Chairman Brendan Carr and the Commission on a decision that is both bold and right and sends a clear signal that meeting network buildout obligations and honoring commitments to partners that help achieve those milestones matter.This is what good governance looks like.

By approving the transfer of EchoStar’s licenses to AT&T and SpaceX, companies with the capital, the technology, and the commitment to put spectrum to work, the FCC has accelerated America’s wireless future. The licenses will be used to densify and upgrade networks, delivering faster, more reliable service to tens of millions of customers across the country, including in rural and underserved communities. Together, these transactions will put tens of billions of dollars’ worth of previously underutilized airwaves to work for the American public.

The American Wireless Builders Coalition was formed because we believe in the future of wireless infrastructure in this country — and because we know that future depends on trust. Trust that contracts will be honored. Trust that the companies and workers who invest in building networks will be treated fairly. Trust that the rules of the road apply to everyone.

The FCC’s decision affirms that trust.

Over more than a decade, EchoStar and DISH accumulated one of the largest spectrum portfolios in the country, acquiring valuable licenses through FCC auctions and secondary market transactions with firm commitments to build out a competitive national wireless network. Tower companies, fiber providers, contractors, and property owners across the country answered that call, committing capital and workforce to help make good on those obligations.

Then, having accumulated spectrum assets and construction obligations, EchoStar moved to sell those assets (for which they stand to pocket ~$40 billion) — while telling the companies and workers who built the network it had no intention of honoring what it owed them. EchoStar’s move threatens not just individual businesses, but the entire ecosystem of investment that makes wireless buildout possible.

As a condition of its approval, the FCC required EchoStar to establish a $2.4 billion escrow account to ensure that the tower companies, fiber providers, contractors, property owners, and small businesses owed billions of dollars for building the DISH Wireless network (a subsidiary of EchoStar) will be paid. This was the right call — and it matters far beyond this single transaction.

The FCC’s requirement sends an unambiguous message: you cannot use the spectrum licensing process to unjustly enrich yourself while damaging America’s wireless ecosystem.

Getting spectrum into the hands of companies that will use it: check. Protecting the blue-collar workers and small businesses who built the network: check. Setting a precedent that wireless infrastructure investment is safe, reliable, and fairly compensated: check. Positioning the United States to lead the world in 6G and beyond: check.

FCC Chairman Brendan Carr has made the Build America agenda the centerpiece of his tenure — a vision in which American spectrum, American infrastructure, and American workers are all treated as the national assets they are. This week’s decision is a direct expression of, and commitment to, that vision.

The American Wireless Builders Coalition is proud to have been part of this fight, and proud of the outcome. We are equally proud of the men and women whose work this decision honors: the tower crews who climbed in all weather, the contractors who invested in training and equipment, the property owners who made space available, the small businesses that bet their livelihoods on long-term agreements they believed would be kept.

This week they got an answer they deserved.

America’s wireless future is bright because it was built by people who showed up, did the work, and are now being treated fairly for it. We look forward to continuing to build the networks that will power this country’s next chapter.

Patrick Halley is the President and CEO of the Wireless Infrastructure Association (WIA).