WASHINGTON, D.C. – May 28, 2025 – Yesterday, INCOMPAS, the internet and competitive networks association, filed comments in response to the Federal Communications Commission’s (FCC) public notices seeking comment on EchoStar Corporation’s 5G buildout deadlines and its use of the 2000-2020 MHz and 2180-2200 MHz bands (2 GHz band) for mobile-satellite service. INCOMPAS urged the Commission to support EchoStar’s continued development of its groundbreaking 5G Open RAN network and to avoid actions that could undermine competition and investment in the mobile marketplace.
The following statement can be attributed to Chip Pickering, CEO, INCOMPAS:
“EchoStar represents the most significant injection of new infrastructure-based competition into the wireless market in over a decade. The Commission’s investigation into the company’s buildout extensions is not only unjustified but risks sending the wrong signal to every challenger working to bring more choice, lower prices, and better connectivity to the American people.
EchoStar’s Open RAN deployment using AWS-4 and other spectrum assets represents a transformative shift in the wireless ecosystem, one that encourages vendor diversity, drives down costs, and enhances cybersecurity through modular, software-defined networks. This model breaks away from legacy, proprietary systems dominated by a few large vendors and opens the door for more agile, U.S.-based suppliers and innovators. Limiting EchoStar’s use of AWS-4 spectrum or allowing new MSS entrants in the band would jeopardize this progress and risk undermining a critical avenue for increasing competition and network resilience—two of the FCC’s top priorities in the evolving 5G landscape.
The 2 GHz band is a rare asset in the mobile-satellite service space, uniquely positioned to support hybrid satellite-terrestrial networks that can bring connectivity to remote regions and improve network resiliency. Opening the 2 GHz band to new entrants at this juncture would severely damage EchoStar, which is actively building out critical national infrastructure. Allowing new entrants into the band before the full potential of these efforts has been realized risks massive interference will setback in our collective ability to deliver robust, competitive broadband nationwide.
INCOMPAS urges the Commission to consider the recommendations in its comments as it examines the issues raised in the Public Notices and preserve the construction milestone extensions it granted to EchoStar in 2024. Revisiting these obligations would undermine regulatory certainty and threaten to stall innovation—ultimately hurting consumers and communities that depend on competitive alternatives.”
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