Beleaguered communications provider EchoStar made another delayed payment on some of its outstanding secured notes, though its operational future remains in flux.

EchoStar, in a new Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filing, stated that it would make interest payments on a handful of outstanding debt notes that were originally due on July 1. Those interest payments include the associated defaulted interest and are not technically late, as they did come with a 30-day grace period before being considered to be in default.

EchoStar’s latest payment scheme is similar to what the company did a month ago when it delayed payment on another set of debt notes. The company at that time did state that it would not be making the scheduled payment on the July notes that it has now made payments on.

EchoStar, in its latest SEC filing, again pointed to the firm’s ongoing battle with the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) over already granted deadline extensions for some of EchoStar’s wireless spectrum licenses. That battle includes EchoStar’s 2 GHz licenses that have become a point of contention for satellite-to-device communications.

EchoStar’s Dish subsidiary initially acquired those spectrum licenses more than a decade ago from financially strapped would-be satellite communication provider TerreStar Networks and its acquisition of DBSD North America. Dish noted that it planned to use that roughly 40-megahertz of spectrum to power a satellite-to-device service.

However, spectrum licenses have FCC-mandated buildout requirements designed to ensure that a license owner is putting those licenses to work for the common good and not just sitting on those licenses to sell at a later date. EchoStar has received a handful of FCC extensions on some of its licenses as it has attempted to launch commercial services and has used some of its 2 GHz spectrum to support its terrestrial-based 5G network.

This notion came to a head earlier this year when the FCC’s Wireless Telecommunications Bureau (WTB) opened comments on EchoStar's spectrum license management. FCC chairman Brendan Carr has openly questioned EchoStar’s management of those spectrum licenses.

EchoStar, in its previous SEC filing, said the investigation harmed its ongoing deployment and "threatens its viability as a wireless provider as well as endangers the video and broadband satellite services upon which millions of consumers rely." The company used that argument to forgo $326 million in interest payments that were due in late May and early June.

EchoStar backed up that uncertainty in its latest filing.

“The company continues to work cooperatively with the FCC to facilitate its ongoing inquiries, including by providing responses and information at the FCC’s request,” EchoStar’s latest SEC filing states. “In parallel, the company continues to progress wide-ranging efforts to explore alternative or complementary pathways that could, if successfully implemented, resolve the FCC’s stated concerns in a manner acceptable to the company.”

EchoStar’s fraught financial fight

EchoStar has been traversing a rocky financial path for years, but late last year appeared to have found more stable footing backed by a new financing plan that had it ditch $7 billion in debt to provide it with $5.5 billion in new financing.

EchoStar controls a number of entities, including cellular-based telecommunications provider Boost Mobile, satellite-based communications providers Hughes and HughesNet, satellite-TV provider Dish, and streaming-TV provider Sling. Boost Mobile is the only offering that has shown recent growth potential, though it remains a financial drag on EchoStar’s overall operations.

The operator did manage to add approximately 150,000 net connections during the latest quarter after years of losing customers, but those additions came at an incredible cost. That cost is tied to Boost Mobile attempting to commercially compete with established rivals like Verizon, AT&T, and T-Mobile US, not to mention the dozens of smaller, prepaid operator brands in the market.

Analysts have noted that the FCC’s position, combined with EchoStar’s perilous financial position, is angling toward pressure on EchoStar to sell its spectrum licenses.

“It is widely believed (and we agree) that Carr is hoping that the two public notices he started would cause financial stress to [EchoStar] so that it would have the impact of forcing [EchoStar] to end its efforts to become a fourth wireless network and sell its spectrum,” NewStreet Research US policy and regulation analyst Blair Levin noted in a recent report.

Levin’s colleague Jonathan Chaplin added that the force of this pressure could impact an actual outcome.

“Our thesis hinges on [EchoStar] being able to sell its spectrum to the three national carriers,” Chaplin wrote. “If EchoStar can’t sell spectrum to the three national carriers, we don’t think they will get full value from other buyers.”

EchoStar is scheduled to release its second-quarter earnings on August 1.