Ex-FCC Member Simington Says Agency Should Nix EchoStar Probes

Nathan Simington, a Republican who resigned as a member of the Federal Communications Commission last week, called for the agency’s current leadership to abandon probesof EchoStar Corp.’s wireless spectrum holdings.

In an opinion piece in a regulatory trade publication, Simington said renegotiating the satellite and 5G network operator’s airwaves rights puts the whole system of spectrum licensing into question and risks national competitiveness with China.

EchoStar, co-founded and headed by billionaire Charlie Ergen, “is at risk of suffering an unprecedented and unpredictable punishment,” Simington wrote in RealClear Policy. “We’re all going to pay a price for it ...