The remnants of Charlie Ergen's soured $46 billion bet on 5G can be found on the roof of a church in suburban Boston, atop a university water tower outside Minneapolis and on buildings in Manhattan and Knoxville, Tennessee. Dish stopped paying rent last year after regulators began scrutinizing its 5G plans, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in June, and now wants to abandon the equipment, leaving property owners and managers staring down bills to remove it themselves. In the case of Michael Grace, co-founder of Grace Capital outside Chicago, the tab is $49,000. Dish hasn't paid its $2,500 monthly rent since last fall for antennas atop a 10-story office building that Grace's firm manages in Knoxville. The key juncture in the process comes Oct. 13, when Judge Christopher Lopez, who's overseeing the case in a Texas bankruptcy court, is scheduled to consider approving Dish's restructuring, which is being challenged by creditors.
EchoStar CorporationDish's bankruptcy and restructuring, which EchoStar is part of, leaves property owners with removal costs and creditors challenging the plan.
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