A classic example used to explain the meaning of the Yiddish term "chutzpah" is the joke about a boy who murders his parents and then begs the judge for mercy because he is an orphan.
EchoStar hasn't killed anyone. But its ploy to claim payments from the trust fund the FCC required EchoStar to establish as a condition of its approval of the transfer of EchoStar's spectrum licenses to AT&T and SpaceX certainly qualifies as one of the most egregious acts of chutzpah in Communications Land.
The background facts are well-known. When the FCC's Wireless Telecommunications Bureau (WTB) approved EchoStar’s sale of its licenses on May 12, 2026, for tens of billions of dollars, it required EchoStar to set up a trust fund to help pay tower companies and others that helped construct EchoStar's 5G network. While EchoStar was required to build the network as a condition on its licenses, it refused to pay the vendor companies that actually did so.
EchoStar has now told a federal bankruptcy court that this fund can be used to pay a loan one EchoStar subsidiary supposedly made to another, a claim so large, according to the WTB, it threatens to "swallow the fund."
In a July 30, 2026, order, the WTB firmly rejected EchoStar's act of chutzpah: "We disagree, and clarify what should be obvious – that the fund cannot be used to pay companies that did not build the network. And to ensure that that the purpose of the fund is not perverted, we also modify the fund’s terms to explicitly exclude from payment any claims of EchoStar or its subsidiaries."
Never one to give up on a far-fetched gambit – especially one trying to "swallow a fund" meant for the benefit of others – EchoStar has now asked the full Commission, in an August 30 Application for Review, to reverse the Bureau's order. EchoStar contends that, because the agency's order establishing the trust does not explicitly limit the payouts to claims of third parties, it's entitled to take funds from the trust with one hand that it supplied with the other.
The Wireless Telecommunications Bureau's July 30 order, to ensure its intent in creating the trust fund is carried out, modifies the definition of a fund claim to exclude any claims on behalf of EchoStar or its subsidiaries or affiliates, or any assignee thereof. The Bureau's July 30 order explains what almost certainly was evident to all when the FCC required that the trust fund be established as a condition of its approval of the transfer of EchoStar's spectrum licenses:
"The purpose of requiring EchoStar to create the Fund was to ensure that some of the tens of billions of dollars EchoStar is receiving for its wireless licenses be used to pay those who built the 5G network that EchoStar promised and was required to build as a condition on holding those licenses. That purpose is not realized if EchoStar pays the money to itself (directly or indirectly), or uses it to pay other of its debts or those of its subsidiaries or affiliates."
In essence, EchoStar's main argument seems to be that the Administrative Procedure Act prevents the Bureau from clarifying its July 30 order to make crystal-clear, if need be, that the lack of an explicit limitation in the agency's original order creating the trust fund did not mean that EchoStar itself would be able to claim payments from the very trust it funded. I don't think the APA does any such thing.
If EchoStar's gambit succeeds, not only would the specific tower and other 5G infrastructure builders for whose benefit the trust fund was established be injured, but, as importantly, the prospect for future network build-outs will be diminished as a result of the lack of confidence that contracts will be honored and that the rule of law will prevail.
I forget what happened to the orphan who, in a show of chutzpah, pleaded with the judge for mercy after killing his parents. But you don't need to be an expert in administrative law or in Yiddish to suspect that, in this instance, EchoStar's exercise of chutzpah in Communications Land will be to no avail.
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