Dish Network is currently awaiting final FCC rules on the terrestrial use of MSS spectrum while seeking a crucial waiver to offer terrestrial-only devices.

The filing claims that Dish Network and FCC officials held a meeting, during which the operator argued that a 5 MHz upward shift at 2000 MHz to 2020 MHz would, “needlessly inject serious regulatory and technical obstacles …and would introduce substantial delay and risk into the standard-setting process, which in turn would further delay — if not possibly scuttle — Dish’s planned deployment.”

   Dish Network owns 40 MHz of S-band spectrum, for which it paid $2.78 billion to obtain in 2011. Earlier this year, the FCC voted to issue a notice of proposed rulemaking that explores how the MSS spectrum S-band should be repurposed for terrestrial use. The FCC also will look at repurposing the spectrum between the 1695 MHz and 1710 MHz bands for commercial mobile broadband services.

   Dish Network has said in previous FCC filings that it would not be able to launch its proposed LTE Advanced network using its spectrum until 2016 or later — a full year after the FCC’s proposed build-out schedule for Dish to launch its network in three years covering 30 percent of the U.S. population. Dish Network said its service would cover 60 percent of the U.S. population.