DISH soft on week as 5G deadlines loom; Hughes notes higher; iHeartCommunications mixed

By Cristal Cody

Tupelo, Miss., Feb. 15 – DISH DBS Corp.’s paper saw some modest gains on Thursday but remained soft on the week with the bonds volatile since the merger with EchoStar Corp. was approved in December as the company faces failed exchange offers and looming government and debt deadlines.

DISH has six months from the date of a Sept. 29, 2023 letter from the FCC to complete testing that it has deployed a 5G network where at least 70% of the U.S. population has access to average download speeds of 35 mbps or greater.

DISH also has a $3.59 billion payment due April 1 to T-Mobile for its 800 MHz spectrum licenses.

“The FCC is keeping us pretty busy these days,” a market source not affiliated with DISH said Thursday.

DISH’s 5 1/8% senior notes due 2029 (Caa2/CC) were ¼ point better on the day but down about ¾ point this week at 69 bid, a source said.

EchoStar subsidiary Hughes Satellite Systems Corp.’s 6 5/8% senior notes due 2026 (Caa3/CCC+) traded over ¾ point better at 66 1/8 bid.

iHeartCommunications, Inc.’s 4¾% senior secured notes due 2028 (Caa1/B+) rose about ½ point to around the 69¾ bid area, a source said.

The company’s CDS spreads widened over 100 basis points this week.

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