India, July 9 -- Dish Network's billionaire Chairman Charlie Ergen met with Republican FCC commissioners this week, urging them to allow 5G operations in the 12GHz band where his companies own a significant number of licenses.

In doing so, Ergen essentially joined fellow billionaire Michael Dell, CEO of Dell Technologies, in pushing for 5G operations in the 12GHz band. Dell's private money management firm backs a company called RS Access, which owns 12GHz licenses and has been pushing for rules allowing 5G operations in the band.

But Ergen and Dell aren't the only billionaires interested in the 12GHz band. In his meetings with FCC officials this week, Ergen specifically argued against a rival proposal from SpaceX backed by fellow billio...