Crown Castle says DISH has defaulted on its payment obligations under their master services agreement, accusing the carrier of castigating the very tower owners and contractors that helped build its nationwide network—just as DISH monetizes billions of dollars in spectrum. The statement was issued hours after DISH filed its legal response, denying a breach and echoing the defense it used against American Tower.
Crown Castle Inc. issued a press release late this afternoon, stating that DISH Wireless has defaulted on its payment obligations, prompting the tower operator to terminate its wireless infrastructure agreement and seek recovery of more than $3.5 billion in remaining payments purportedly owed under the contract.
The announcement came just hours after DISH filed its formal response Friday evening to Crown Castle’s master services agreement (MSA) lawsuit—a response that Wireless Estimator covered in detail.
In the press release, Crown Castle said DISH initially made required payments under the agreement but recently failed to do so, resulting in a default. As a result, Crown Castle exercised its contractual right to terminate the agreement and is pursuing the balance of payments allegedly due under the long-term tower lease arrangement.
Crown Castle’s statement framed the dispute in stark terms, noting that American businesses helped DISH and its parent company, EchoStar, build the wireless network with the expectation that it would provide meaningful service and support U.S. connectivity. The release referenced industry developments from last summer, including EchoStar’s announcement that it was selling public spectrum licenses to AT&T and SpaceX—transactions Crown Castle suggests DISH is using to justify its pivot away from network obligations and payment performance.
The tower operator stressed that it does not anticipate this termination will impact its full-year 2025 financial results. Crown Castle also reiterated support for putting the acquired spectrum bands into active use for the American public, even as it asserts its legal rights to enforce contractual commitments.
Crown Castle’s press release went further than previous SEC disclosures on the matter, explicitly alleging that DISH “is refusing to pay the American workers and businesses it used to build its network” while selling spectrum licenses valued at more than $40 billion.
The press release and termination notice follow Crown Castle’s earlier disclosure via a Form 8-K that it delivered a notice of default and termination to DISH under its MSA and related agreements. That filing similarly indicated that the move was not expected to affect the company’s 2025 results materially.
While Crown Castle’s announcement portrays its actions as a defensive business measure, it underscores the broader legal and commercial tensions now playing out between large wireless infrastructure owners and DISH. As documented in Wireless Estimator’s earlier article, DISH’s response to Crown Castle’s complaint mirrors its defense in the American Tower lawsuit—asserting that the disputes arise from differing interpretations of payment obligations under MSAs rather than a simple refusal to perform.
The situation marks a significant escalation in industry litigation over long-term tower contracts amid changes to DISH’s strategic direction and spectrum holdings, and it may have implications for how similar agreements are enforced in the evolving wireless ecosystem.
