Dish Network and T-Mobile have agreed to extend the deadline for which Dish has to purchase T-Mobile’s 800MHz spectrum.

The two companies informed a US court last week that they had agreed a new deadline, with Dish now given until April 1 to buy a set of T-Mobile airwaves after previously missing the August deadline to do so.

Dish will pay a $100 million extension fee to the US carrier as part of the agreement.

The US District Court for the District of Columbia will have to approve the arrangement.

“Taken together, the proposed modifications to the Final Judgment provide Dish additional time to purchase the spectrum, subject to payment of the Extension Fee, provide T-Mobile with the opportunity to begin auction preparations during the extended option period, and provide certainty to the parties, the public, and the Court that Dish will be entitled to no further extensions for any reason if it does not acquire the spectrum on or before April 1, 2024,” the filing said.

As part of T-Mobile's merger and acquisition of Sprint in 2020, the operator agreed to sell its 800MHz spectrum to Dish.

Dish was due to purchase the spectrum by August 2023, but requested both the court and the DOJ for a 10-month extension (from August 31) to exercise its option to buy the spectrum, citing it needs more time to raise the funds.

T-Mobile disputed the extension request, claiming that the request for an extension was “unfair" to the company and “contrary to the public interest.”

However, it appears now that a compromise has been met, with Dish receiving an extension, though short of the 10 months it initially requested.

If Dish doesn’t buy the airwaves by April 1, T-Mobile must auction them, the agreement states.