Dish Network has closed on its acquisition of spectrum from DBSD and TerreStar.
"Dish looks forward to working with the FCC on its forthcoming Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) and remains committed to using this spectrum to help the Administration and the FCC solve the nation's spectrum crunch," the company said in announcing the close, pointing out it had invested more than $3 billion in the spectrum.
The FCC approved the deal two weeks ago, but declined to grant Dish a waiver of the FCC's integrated service requirement so it can use the combined spectrum to offer terrestrial-only receivers as part of its planned hybrid terrestrial-satellite broadband service.
The FCC said instead it would consider it in the context of a separate rulemaking on the public interest benefits of letting satellite spectrum authorizations be used for terrestrial delivery.
The FCC granted a similar waiver to LightSquared, but is rescinding it due to so-far unresolved GPS interference issues.
The FCC granted LightSquared a waiver for its hybrid broadband service in the wake of a National Broadband Plan conclusion that "gating" criteria, such as the integrated service mandate, have made it difficult to achieve the Commission's goals of a more efficient and flexible use of spectrum.
Like LightSquared, Dish wants to be able to provide both the hybrid satellite-terrestrial receivers and terrestrial-only. In July, a judge approved Dish's purchase of TerreStar out of bankruptcy.
