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Thursday, August 7, 2014

T - Mobile May Have Other Suitors

Sprint decided to pull its bid to merge with T-Mobile, either because it doubted it would receive FCC approval or simply felt it wasn't a good fit.  But T-Mobile may not be single for long.  Speculation comes that Charlie Ergen and his Dish Network might once again be interested in pursuing a telecommunication company.  Last year he tried to obtain Sprint but lost that fight; T-Mobile might be the next best thing. 

"After buying up billions of dollars worth of spectrum over the past several years, Dish has been scouting for a partner to enter the wireless business as its core video business has matured" according to the WSJ.   At the same time, Dish has been securing more streaming programming partnerships.  On Tuesday they announced a new deal with A&E Networks that includes streaming rights.  It follows a deal in March with Disney Networks.  An acquisition of T-Mobile gets Dish closer to delivering a nationwide streaming service model. 

With AT&T planning to acquire DirecTv, a Dish T-Mobile merger would help to keep them competitive, albeit still smaller in scope and size.  It does help improve the competitive landscape in what is more than just a cellular business model these days.  Broadband access is everything and choice is already limited.  It seems to me that Dish and T-Mobile would be a strong synergistic match. It also brings another legitimate entity into the streaming space.