DISH DBS and DISH Wireless file prepackaged Chapter 11 after AT&T spectrum-sale delay

EchoStar’s DISH DBS and DISH Wireless subsidiaries filed a prepackaged Chapter 11 case on June 30, after delays in closing the company’s spectrum sale to AT&T left them short of cash to repay a $2.0 billion debt maturity due July 1.

The filing is not a bankruptcy of EchoStar as a whole. The company said the cases cover DISH DBS Corp. and certain subsidiaries, including DISH Wireless LLC and its subsidiaries, and are meant to carry out a pre-negotiated restructuring plan. EchoStar Corp. itself, along with Hughes, Boost Mobile, Gen Mobile and certain other affiliates, is not part of the bankruptcy.

The cases were filed in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Texas, Houston Division. EchoStar said the filing was necessary because DISH DBS did not have enough liquidity to repay $2.0 billion of 7.75% senior secured notes due July 1, 2026, before the AT&T transaction closed. In a June 30 press release, the company said: “All amounts owed under the July 1 Notes will be paid in full in cash as promptly as possible after closing of the AT&T Transaction or on the effective date of the Plan.”

EchoStar described the case as a prepackaged joint Chapter 11 filing tied to a previously announced restructuring support agreement, or RSA, with creditors. The company said holders of more than 88% of DISH DBS’ secured and unsecured notes had signed on, and that those creditors also hold more than $8.8 billion of DISH Wireless debt. EchoStar said it expects the subsidiaries to emerge from Chapter 11 before the end of the third quarter of 2026.

The restructuring is closely tied to EchoStar’s broader plan to monetize spectrum — the wireless airwaves licenses that telecom companies buy and sell to build networks and deliver service — to reduce debt. In August 2025, EchoStar announced an agreement to sell about 50 megahertz of nationwide spectrum to AT&T for about $23 billion gross. In restructuring materials released Tuesday, the company said it expects $20.25 billion in net proceeds from AT&T when the deal closes. The difference reflects that the sale price and the cash ultimately available to EchoStar are not the same thing.

EchoStar also announced a separate spectrum deal with SpaceX in September 2025, adding to the company’s push to turn spectrum holdings into cash. The company’s current structure dates to the end of 2023, when EchoStar completed its merger with DISH, bringing the DISH-branded subsidiaries under the EchoStar corporate umbrella.

The deals received approval in May 2026 from the Federal Communications Commission, the agency that oversees U.S. communications licenses. But the FCC attached an important condition: within 30 days of the AT&T spectrum assignment closing, EchoStar must establish a $2.4 billion trust or similar fund to address certain claims linked to the construction, operation, decommissioning or provisioning of the DISH Wireless 5G network.

That requirement matters because the restructuring is not just about one missed maturity. It is also tied to the unwind of parts of DISH Wireless’ network buildout and the claims of vendors and infrastructure providers connected to that effort. In that sense, the Chapter 11 filing is a court-supervised bridge between a looming debt payment and the expected proceeds from a major spectrum sale, shaped in part by the FCC’s effort to protect parties affected by the wireless network’s wind-down.