DirecTV And Dish Network In Merger Talks, Again...

Dish Network could be in some financial trouble, as its deadline to cover 70% of the US with 5G comes up next month. The company is expected to meet that deadline, however, the company is going to need to spend billions more to cover 75% of America by 2025. And that’s billions that Dish Network does not have right now.

That brings us to Dish Network and DirecTV's potentially merging. The two have been posturing and position around a merger publicly for a few years. They are the two largest satellite TV providers in the US, and with cord cutting accelerating, a merger is likely inevitable. But now, the talks have stalled, reportedly.

Both of these satellite TV companies have their own Streaming TV service. With Dish Network having Sling TV, and DirecTV having DirecTV Stream and DirecTV via Internet, which are basically the same service. Clearly both companies know that streaming is the future, and it would make sense for the two of them to finally merge.

This would be a similar merger to Sirius and XM satellite radio merging 14 years ago, to form SiriusXM. If Dish Network and DirecTV did merge, they could end up being a viable competitor to AT&T. With DirecTV’s satellite and streaming TV service, and Dish’s services along with its internet business.

Now the other big question is, even if they do come to an agreement, would the regulators allow this deal to go through? Since they are the only satellite TV providers in the market right now, there’s likely going to be some pushback. Then again, satellite TV is dying, and this merger would be more about Internet and streaming TV, so it could be allowed to happen.

We’ll likely see a lot more about this potential deal in the coming weeks, especially if this while thing is one side trying to pressure the other into meeting their demands.

Dish Has Agreed To Buy Boost Mobile

Dish has reportedly struck a deal with T-Mobile, to divest some of its spectrum and Boost Mobile to the satellite provider Dish, in order for the Justice Department to approve of its merger with Sprint.

The Justice Department needs to sign off on this deal, before it can be approved and before the merger with Sprint can be approved. This report comes out of CNBC, who has a pretty good track record with telecommunications reports. 

The Justice Department still needs to decide on whether Dish would represent meaningful competition to T-Mobile, Verizon, and AT&T following the $26 billion merger between T-Mobile and Sprint.

Dish already has spectrum from different spectrum auctions over the past decade. If there is a company that could become a meaningful competitor to the existing wireless carriers, Dish would be the one in mind. T-Mobile and Sprint have already agreed to sell Boost Mobile to get this deal done, and the DOJ also wants it to sell some of its own spectrum.

T-Mobile wants to limit Dish's spectrum capacity to around 12.5 percent. Meanwhile, Deutsche Telekom wants to limit any strategic Dish investor to 5 percent.

This to make sure that T-Mobile and Deutsche Telekom aren't spending $26 billion to be left in the same spot they are in now. In distant third place behind the top two US carriers. The whole reason for the two to merge was to be able to better compete with top carriers, both of which are nearly three times the size of T-Mobile now. The combined T-Mobile and Sprint, would still be smaller than the top US carriers.

The Justice Department has a few things that it wants done before it can approve this merger between T-Mobile and Sprint. One major caveat is to make a fourth, viable, wireless carrier. Which would be the point of selling spectrum to Dish as well as selling Boost Mobile. 

Dish being the perfect buyer, giving it has spectrum that it needs to start deploying, before the FCC starts fining Dish and has been wanting to get into the wireless industry for many years.


Source: CNBC

T-Mobile And Sprint To Sell Off Boost Mobile

T-Mobile and Sprint are closer to merger approval, working with the Department of Justice to divest assets that would create a new fourth wireless carrier. The New York Times says the carriers are in discussions with Dish Network, Charter, and Altice to acquire Boost Mobile and some of Sprint's wireless spectrum.

The critical part of the structuring deal is that Sprint would be giving up spectrum holdings, not just the Boost Mobile brand that runs on Sprint's existing network. In order for a new carrier to be a true competitor it would need its own spectrum holdings. If the merger were to be structured with this sort of deal in place it would presumably ease pressure coming from lawsuits that's aiming to block the merger on the basis that it would reduce competition.

The question is why are we going through all of these hurdles to end up with four U.S. carriers once all is said and done. The combined T-Mobile and Sprint would have a large enough customer base and network infrastructure to compete with other major U.S. carriers. But the new smaller carrier would be starting from a disadvantaged position.


Source: The New York Times

Dish Is Ready To Bid On T-Mobile

Dish Network Chairman Charles Ergen wants Dish to become a wireless carrier. Ergen was shot down twice when Dish was outbid by SoftBank for Sprint, and outbid by Sprint for Clearwire. Ergen also put in a bid for bankrupt third party network provider LightSquared only to see another party interfere yet again.

Earlier this year Dish finally won an auction for H-Block spectrum for $1.56 billion. Which made Dish the fifth largest holder of spectrum. Ergen has said he would let Sprint bid on T-Mobile. If Sprint's attempt to buy T-Mobile fails Dish will step in to buy the fourth largest U.S. carrier. Ergen says that Dish doesn't have cash flow to outbid Sprint for T-Mobile, Ergen would rather sit on the sidelines to see how a Sprint T-Mobile deal pans out. 

Earlier visits to the FCC and FTC by Sprint chairman Masayoshi Son, and Sprint CEO Dan Hesse, went poorly for the nation's third largest carrier, which doesn't look good for a Sprint T-Mobile deal. However, regulators like the possibility of Dish becoming the fifth largest wireless carrier in the U.S. 

The FCC has already approved Dish's request to use some of its recently purchased H-Block spectrum for satellite transmissions, as a conduit for cellular calls and data.

Source: Bloomberg

Sprint And Dish To Trial LTE 4G Broadband To Homes

Sprint today announced that it is partnering with Dish Networks to offer LTE 4G-based broadband in Corpus Christi, Texas. Dish will be responsible for installing the satellite dish and in-home networking gear, and Sprint will deliver TDD-LTE via its 2.5GHz spectrum. Sprint expects the trial to be up and running by the middle of 2014. The companies will consider expanding the service to other markets depending on the success of the trial. Clearwire, which Sprint now owns, offered similar in-home broadband service over its WiMax network.

Dish Reevaluates Attempt To Buy Sprint

Dish Networks today offered an update on its bid to acquire Sprint. According to Dish, Sprint's recent legal actions have caused Dish to reevaluate its plans moving forward. It will drop its proposed acquisition of Sprint and will instead concentrate on acquiring Clearwire. "While Dish continues to see strategic value in a merger with Sprint, the decisions made by Sprint to prematurely terminate our due diligence process and accept extreme deal protections in its revised agreement with SoftBank, among other things, have made it impracticable for Dish to submit a revised offer by the June 18th deadline imposed by Sprint. We will consider our options with respect to Sprint, and focus our efforts and resources on completing the Clearwire tender offer." Sprint filed a lawsuit against Dish on Monday seeking to block its bid to acquire Clearwire, calling the proposal illegal.


Source: Dish

Clearwire Expected To Accept Dish's Offer

Despite Sprint's continued protest against Dish's cash offer to acquire as much of Clearwire as possible at $4.40 per share, Clearwire looks to be nearing a decision to accept it. Sources familiar with the matter tell The Wall Street Journal that the special committee at Clearwire assigned with assessing the current offer from Dish will advise the rest of the company's board to push back a Thursday shareholder vote in order to accept Dish's cash offer for the company. Previous arguments from Sprint that the deal is not in the best interest of the company nor is it legally possible given the governance structure demands from Dish (which call for board member appointments as a term) still remain, adding to the confusion. Sprint claims that its previous agreements with Clearwire, and a restructuring of the company in 2008, conflict strongly with the demands Dish has on its offer.

Dish and Clearwire don't seem to be bothered by the potential structural issues of the deal, and have explained as such to Sprint previously. If Clearwire is to accept Dish's offer whether it be with revised governance terms or not it would have to be for at least 25-percent of the company to make any meaningful difference for Dish's plans to block Sprint's buyout of Clearwire. Sprint needs a majority of the minority shareholders to approve its plan to buyout the rest (49.5-percent) of the company it doesn't already own, something that simply won't happen if Dish controls that majority share.

Department Of Justice Clears Softbank-Sprint Merger

The SoftBank-Sprint merger is almost official. Despite the recent news that SoftBank has been in talks with DeutscheTelekom to set up a backup plan to purchase T-Mobile US if the deal with Sprint went south, it looks like this deal is going to go through. The Department of Justice has cleared the SoftBank-Sprint merger to continue. 

The DOJ had asked the FCC to hold off on making a decision, so the deal could be investigated, but everything is looking good. So, that means the only thing left is for the FCC to approve the merger of course, the competing bid from Dish could still cause problems with the deal. 

Source: FCC

Sprint Improves Clearwire Bid, Says Its 'Best And Final Offer'

Sprint entered into an agreement to buy the remaining 50 percent of Clearwire that it doesn't already own for $2.97 per share, or around $2.2 billion. This morning Sprint announced that it's decided to up its bid to $3.40 per share, putting Clearwire at a value of $10.7 billion. Sprint says that this is its "best and final offer" for Clearwire and that it's bid is the "best strategic alternative" for Clearwire and its shareholders.

This improved Sprint bid bests the offer that Dish Network made for Clearwire in January 2013, which was set at $3.30 per share. While it remains to be seen which offer Clearwire will ultimately take, things definitely appear to be leaning in Sprint's favor. Not only does Sprint now have the higher bid, it also has the support of Clearwire's Special Committee and its board of directors. What's more, Sprint says that it's been told by Comcast, Intel and Bright House Networks that they all plan to vote their shares of Clearwire in favor of Sprint's merger. Those three companies own a total of approximately 26 percent of Clearwire.

Source: Sprint

Dish Network Reportedly Makes $2B Offer For LightSquared Spectrum

Dish Network is quite interested in entering the wireless business, and according to a new report, the company is now targeting LightSquared as a way to bolster its existing spectrum holdings. Source speaking to Bloomberg claim that Dish chairman Charlie Ergen recently offered to buy LightSquared's spectrum for $2 billion. The offer was reportedly made on May 15, and LightSquared's is said to have until May 31 to make a decision. Neither company has officially commented on the rumors, but the tipsters claim that LightSquared would use the funds to pay off its secured debt. 

LightSquared previously tried to build out its own 4G LTE wireless network, but the FCC shot down its plans to do so over concerns that its spectrum could interfere with GPS systems. Things went downhill from there, with Sprint ending its spectrum hosting agreement with LightSquared, followed by the company's decision to file for bankruptcy. LightSquared submitted new network plans with the FCC toward the end of 2012, but the federal agency has yet to approve that spectrum for use in a wireless network.

Meanwhile, Dish's spectrum has already been a go ahead by the FCC for use in a wireless network, and since then the company has been trying to find a partner to help it break into the wireless industry. The company has already made offers for Clearwire and Sprint, and now Dish apparently sees LightSquared as a good way to help it bolster its existing spectrum. Considering how desperate Dish has been to get into the wireless business, it's no surprise to see that it's now gunning for LightSquared's spectrum, especially after the issues that LightSquared has been having getting approval for its own network.

We'll have to wait until May 31 to see how this matter plays out, but it'll be interesting to see if Dish can snag LightSquared's spectrum and how that could influence Dish's potential deal with Sprint. It's also worth noting that Bloomberg's sources claim that Dish's offer is a "stalking horse agreement," which means that other company's could come in with a higher bid for LightSquared's spectrum. The next 11 days could be quite a bit more exciting than we'd previously anticipated, stay tuned for more details as they emerge. 

Source: Bloomberg

Sprint Gets Approval From SoftBank To Negotiate With Dish

Nearly a month after Sprint was given the ok from SoftBank to speak to Dish and gain more details about its $25.5 billion offer for the Now Network, it appears that the discussions are going to escalate a bit. Sprint tonight announced that it's received a waiver from SoftBank to discuss "non-public information" with Dish and to hold negotiations regarding Dish's bid for Sprint, two things that Sprint was not allowed to do during its previous talks with Dish.

Sprint also reminds us in its announcement that, as part of the terms of its deal with SoftBank, it can end its agreement with the Japanese carrier in order to pursue a better offer. Sprint is quick to point out that it hasn't yet determined if Dish's offer is superior to SoftBank's, though. The No. 3 carrier also says that its board of directors still supports its existing deal with SoftBank.

Sprint originally entered into an agreement with SoftBank late in 2012 that, if completed, will see the Japanese carrier dropping $20.1 billion for a 70 percent stake in Sprint. Dish then surprised most everyone with its own $25.5 billion offer for Sprint in April 2013, and since then Sprint has been contemplating the bids while SoftBank and Dish exchange comments about whose offer is superior.

Exactly how this whole situation will play out is still a mystery, but SoftBank's bid for Sprint did recently get approval from the SEC, and Sprint's shareholders are now scheduled to vote on the offer on June 12. SoftBank also expects the deal to close on July 1. Meanwhile, Dish is still fighting for its offer, and the company has even put in a $2 billion offer for LightSquared's wireless spectrum that could increase the odds of its bid being selected. If you were Sprint, which offer would you choose?

Source: Sprint

Dish Network Rumored To Be Interested In A Deal With T-Mobile

Dish Network Chairman Charles Ergen apparently met with Deutsche Telekom about a deal that would allow the satellite television content provider to buy T-Mobile and bundle its wireless service with Dish Network to give Dish customers a chance to purchase wireless service from the carrier. Ergen was said to have made his approach to the German telco prior to April 10th when the parent of T-Mobile raised its bid for MetroPCS. Now that the surviving company will have less debt after the merger, major MetroPCS shareholders are now supporting the deal which will be voted on by stockholders on April 24th.

With Deutsche Telekom committed to completing the merger with MetroPCS, sources say that the German telecommunications company might consider a deal with Dish Network after the MetroPCS deal closes and after the company sees if a merger with Sprint is possible under the current regulatory environment. If Dish has to wait for the MetroPCS deal with T-Mobile closes to buy the latter operator, it will be looking to purchase a public company with 42.3 million customers. The T-Mobile-MetroPCS deal is structured as a reverse merger in which the smaller MetroPCS will end up as the surviving company which will probably get a name change to T-Mobile.

Ergen has built up a treasure chest of $10 billion, some of which was the result of selling debt. The FCC has already hinted that they would like to see Dish use some of its spectrum used for satellite transmissions to start a new wireless company.The rest is up to Ergen who has been quite methodical about this whole process. Regulators would much rather have Dish acquire T-Mobile than Sprint because this way a major U.S. carrier doesn't disappear. 

Dish is also involved in Sprint's deal to buy the remaining shares of network provider Clearwire that it doesn't own. Japanese telecom Softbank's $20 billion deal to buy 70% of Sprint has given the nation's third largest carrier the money necessary to bid $2.97 a share for the slightly less than 50% of the shares owned by Sprint. Dish is bidding a higher $3.30, but with Clearwire already more than 50% owned by Sprint, Dish has a very tough task ahead of it. The reason for going after Clearwire is once again, networks, pipelines and spectrum. Clearwire has been drawing down chunks of financing from Sprint that is convertible into more Clearwire shares, pretty much ending Ergen's chances of buying Clearwire.



Source: Bloomberg

Google Builds New Experimental Wireless Network

Earlier this month, Google filed paperwork with the FCC to build a secret LTE wireless network on its Mountain View campus in California, which covers a radius of about two miles. The network will consist of 50 base stations, operating in the 2.5GHz frequency band – the same spectrum that Clearwire uses. Up to 200 “user devices” will initially be allowed on this network.

Obviously, this puts a whole new spin on rumors that have been swirling around for a long time concerning a possible Google foray into wireless service. What’s interesting about this latest finding, though, is that it appears Google might be partnering with Clearwire, since it’s using spectrum that almost no other carrier in the world has. It is highly unlikely that Google would be building devices that use this specific and obscure spectrum, unless Google was planning on doing something big with it.

A Google Clearwire partnership might also throw a huge kink into Sprint’s plans to acquire a 100% stake in Clearwire. However, at the same time, Dish did outbid Sprint, and Dish and Google were said to be in talks about a possible partnership. Could this latest FCC filing be a sign of things starting to fall in place for Google’s potential new wireless service?

Source: Pocketables

Dish Network Seeks To Halt FCC Review Of Sprint-Softbank Deal

Dish Networks today filed a request with the Federal Communications Commission asking it to pause its review of Softbank's proposed equity acquisition of Sprint. Dish wants issues concerning its competitive bid for Clearwire to be resolved first. Last year, Softbank, Japan's second-largest wireless network operator, proposed to purchase a 70% stake in Sprint for about $20 billion. Hoping to simplify terms of the deal, Sprint later proposed to acquire the remainder of Clearwire, in which it already holds a majority stake, for $2.97 per share. Dish Networks threw a wrench into Sprint's plans by making its own bid for Clearwire last week, offering $3.30 per share. According to Dish, "With competing offers for Clearwire in place, premature Commission evaluation of Sprint’s initial offer could undermine the Commission’s policy objective of neutrality in takeover contests by giving SoftBank and Sprint a very real advantage in the corporate valuation process." Dish has been looking for a way to enter the wireless network market for years, and is hoping a deal with Clearwire could make that happen.

+Christopher Hamilton

Dish Network Signs LTE-Advanced Chipset Agreement With Qualcomm

Dish Network wants to make sure it’s keeping up with the competition, which is why it has already locked in a deal with Qualcomm to develop LTE-Advanced chipsets for future devices, reports FierceWireless. Dish has a 40MHz chunk of satellite spectrum on the 2GHz band that it’s itching to use for terrestrial LTE-Advanced services if the Federal Communications Commission gives it permission to do so later this year. For the uninitiated, LTE-Advanced will represent a major upgrade over current LTE technologies, as the International Telecommunications Union has said that LTE-Advanced will deliver average download speeds up to 100Mbps (which, coincidentally, was its original requirement for a service to be defined as “4G”.

AT&T Pursuing Leap Wireless Purchase For Its Spectrum

AT&T has made no bones about its need for more wireless spectrum, and now that it can't acquire T-Mobile, it's considering a myriad of options to fill in the gaps. The Wall Street Journal is reporting that the company is in the midst of talks with Leap Wireless, which owns the more well-known brand Cricket, saying that the two sides "have been engaged in talks about a potential deal." The talks are apparently the result of a rapport the two companies built up when AT&T was considering selling Leap some spectrum to make the T-Mobile acquisition more palatable. Though any potential deal is reportedly months away, it could remove one of the more successful smaller carriers from the marketplace.

It's no surprise that AT&T is looking at all options, including possible deals with MetroPCS and even Dish Network, which recently tussled with AT&T in FCC filings over its own wireless plans. Dish might not be interested in selling, the WSJ reports, and MetroPCS is also apparently not looking like a likely partner.

While AT&T's spectrum crunch is a problem, it has to be said that the company is still managing to roll out LTE fairly well in the short term. Compared to T-Mobile (which hasyet to detail any clear LTE plans) and Sprint (which has to now manage without LightSquared's network), the situation could certainly be worse.

AT&T-Mobile deal all but over, joint venture partnership likely

It’s becoming more and more clear that AT&T will not be allowed to buy T-Mobile USA outright. AT&T’s fourth quarter hail-mary effort to save the deal involved selling off some of its assets to appease government opposition, including a potential selloff of customers and spectrum to Leap Wireless. The Wall Street Journal is reporting that these divestiture negotiations cooled off over the weekend, and that AT&T is now preparing itself to pay the $4B breakup fee to Deutsche Telekom.

Though it appears a full takeover of T-Mobile USA is off the table, two likely alternatives are emerging. First, and perhaps the most likely scenario, AT&T and Deutsche Telekom are discussing entering into a joint venture in the United States that would combine AT&T and T-Mobile’s resources together to create a combined network. The result would be something similar to carrier Everything Everywhere in the UK, which is a joint venture between T-Mobile UK and Orange where Everything Everywhere acts as a single company which runs both T-Mobile UK and Orange networks in the UK.

Alternatively, Dish Network has long expressed interest in entering into the mobile market. Just last week, Dish Network expressed interest in purchasing T-Mobile USA if the AT&T purchase falls through. Dish Network has been acquiring spectrum left and right lately, but still doesn’t have enough spectrum to launch a widespread cellular network. Purchasing T-Mobile would provide Dish Network with the opportunity to launch their own carrier, probably under the Dish moniker.

Regardless of which suitor ultimately partners with or fully acquires T-Mobile USA, Deutsche Telekom (DT) continues to indicate that they have no interest in staying in the US market for long. It is widely believed that the $4B breakup fee from AT&T will be used to invest in DT’s European network, not to bolster the operations of  T-Mobile USA.

We’ll likely know more about T-Mobile USA’s fate in coming months. For now, it appears T-Mobile customers can rest assured that they won’t become AT&T customers anytime soon (or Leap Wireless for that matter).

Dish could partner with T-Mobile, if AT&T deal fails

It’s looking like the AT&T, T-Mobile deal may fall through but that doesn’t mean T-Mobile will be dead in the water as Dish Network indicated that it may team up with the carrier for its upcoming wireless service.

In an interview with Bloomberg, Dish said that it could use T-Mobile’s help for its planned mobile services. Dish has its own spectrum and throwing wireless service into the mix would allow it to offer packages of services including television, satellite broadband and mobile voice services.

“We’re not interested in making money on selling our spectrum,” Dish CEO Joseph Clayton told Bloomberg. “We want to use it to create a national wireless network, video, voice and data. We’ve got expertise in satellite-TV, and we will in satellite broadband. The voice part, we’ll need some help with.”

So, that’s a bit of good news for T-Mobile I suppose. While the AT&T deal isn’t fully dead, the chances are looking slimmer and slimmer and many believed that T-Mobile would be screwed without it. While T-Mobile may lose a lot of time and good will, if the deal falls through, it will still receive about $4 billion in assets as a break-up fee and it appears like it will have a strong partner in Dish.

This is quickly turning into a soap opera and you can be sure we’ll keep an eye on it.