Dish could acquire Sprint?

[silverfox0786]

The possible failure of the AT&T/T-Mobile merger plan has thrown the US wireless market into disarray but regardless of that outcome, the smaller players are seeking new alliances. Satellite TV operator Dish Network is the latest would-be kingmaker, having acquired mobile satellite spectrum from two bankruptcy sales, but it needs a partner to have sufficient reach to become a full wireless carrier. Perhaps inevitably, speculation has shifted to Sprint, whose future as a viable third player after Verizon and AT&T will rely on joining forces with other spectrum holders and creating a wholesale network for other brands.


Sprint is due to outline its own 4G strategy on October 7, and clarify at last its future relationships with its Clearwire joint venture and with LightSquared, whose own LTE-in-satellite plans are still under threat because of conflict with the GPS community. One opportunity for Dish is seen to be to provide an alternative to LightSquared, since its own spectrum is further away from GPS bands, but it would certainly need a major ally.


The company's CEO Joseph Clayton is aware of that, and is considering a takeover bid or joint venture, he told Bloomberg. "We'll look at partnerships, acquisitions, all of the above," he said in the interview. Asked whether options might include such deals with Sprint and/or Clearwire, he said: "Could be."


In particular, Clayton said, such alliances would bring Dish much-needed "wireless infrastructure, additional technology capabilities and even distribution."


In return, its dollars could stabilize the finances of Clearwire, especially if Sprint shows signs of severing ties, or it could put greater weight behind Sprint's plans to build a major wholesale network, hosting infrastructure for partners like LightSquared and potentially Clearwire (and even TMo, post-AT&T), in return for access to their spectrum.


Dish earlier this year acquired TerreStar Networks and DBSD North America out of bankruptcy and petitioned the FCC last month for a waiver to run terrestrial-only LTE services, as well as satellite, in the bands, and to combine the two S-Band licences.