DirecTV said it will not bid on 700 MHz spectrum licenses in the FCC’s upcoming auction.

EchoStar, meanwhile, has not made a definitive statement about whether or not it has registered to bid, but investors who worried that it will bid drove down the price of EchoStar stock.

That EchoStar may have filed to bid confused analysts. Many of them believe AT&T is preparing to buy EchoStar, but the rules of the auction would compel the two companies to suspend merger discussions (assuming there are merger discussions) in order to avoid the appearance of colluding on license bidding.

Other companies who have registered to bid include Cox Communications, Google,  and Frontline Wireless. 

Separately, DirecTV signed a contract to continue using conditional access technology from NDS.