Dish Network might partner with T-Mobile USA if AT&T’s takeover bid fails, Dish chief executive Joseph Clayton said in an interview Monday.
Dish, which acquired wireless spectrum this year as part of deals for bankrupt DBSD North America and Terrestar Networks, could merge the spectrum assets with T-Mobile or another wireless company to create a strengthened competitor to AT&T and Verizon Wireless, Clayton said. T-Mobile needs additional spectrum to offer higher-speed wireless service for smartphones.
One scenario is for Dish and a partner such as T-Mobile to combine their wireless assets into a new company, Clayton said. Dish could also team up with Sprint Nextel or Clearwire, he said. Any deal would require approval from the Federal Communications Commission.
“We’re not interested in making money on selling our spectrum,” Clayton said. “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.”
Dish might buy assets from AT&T and T-Mobile if the companies divest customers and spectrum to address regulatory concerns over the merger, Clayton said. Dish has publicly opposed the T-Mobile acquisition, saying it hurts competition.
“We feel if the AT&T-T-Mobile deal goes through, we win,” he said. “If it doesn’t go through, we still win.”
Dish is still waiting for FCC approval to use the spectrum it acquired this year and can’t make final plans until that happens, Clayton said.
“We like our hand,” he said. “We just don’t know what all the cards are yet. Until the FCC opines on our licenses and on the AT&T-T-Mobile merger, it’s still somewhat cloudy.”
