Dish Network Corp. is trading at a record as an airwaves auction that could prove to be the most expensive in U.S. history drives up the value of the satellite- TV provider’s spectrum holdings.
Bids in the auction reached $21 billion Wednesday, according to information posted online by the Federal Communications Commission, which is running the auction that could continue into next month.
Bidding in a 2008 auction reached $19.6 billion to set a record for the periodic airwaves auctions that started in 1994.
The rapid rise in bids is a positive for independent spectrum owners such as Dish, said Philip Cusick, an analyst at JPMorgan Chase & Co. Dish’s spectrum may be worth at least about $20 billion, compared with the $17 billion value implied by the company’s closing market capitalization Tuesday, he wrote.
Dish, run by billionaire Chairman Charlie Ergen, rose $6.81 or 10 percent to close at $74.66 Wednesday, the highest price since the company’s initial public offering in 1995. Dish has a market value of more than $34.4 billion.
Companies including AT&T Inc. and Verizon Communications Inc., T-Mobile US Inc. and Dish registered with the FCC to take part in the sale, which began Nov. 13.
