A U.S. Bankruptcy Court Judge approved Dish Network's proposal to purchase TerreStar Networks for $1.375 billion Thursday, giving the satellite giant access to wireless spectrum for a possible broadband play.
According to Dow Jones Newswires, U.S. Bankruptcy Court Judge Sean Lane approved the sale. Dish was the highest and only bidder for Terrestar. On July 5, both AT&T and Space Systems/Loral Inc. voiced objections to the deal, which apparently were handled at Thursday's hearing. According to Dow Jones, there were no objections to the sale at Thursday's hearing.
TerreStar had attempted to build the first satellite based smartphone network, but ran short of funding. With the purchase, Dish gains control of about 20 MHz of wireless spectrum. Combined with another 20 MHz block it stands to obtain through the still pending $1.4 billion acquisition of DBSD North America, many analysts expect Dish to use the frequencies for a satellite broadband offering in the future.
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