Dish Network in merger talks with T-Mobile [telecom]

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Possible Dish/T-Mobile merger could be trouble for AT&T and Verizon T-Mobile's problem is spectrum - Dish owns a ton of spectrum and hasn't used it.

by Jon Brodkin - Jun 4, 2015

Dish Network is reportedly in talks to merge with T-Mobile US, a deal that would give T-Mobile what it has been looking for: more spectrum.

Dish, a satellite TV provider, has been buying up spectrum licenses for years but has not yet used its airwaves to offer cellular service. Dish and T-Mobile (owned by Deutsche Telekom) "are in close agreement about what the combined company would look like, with Dish Chief Executive Charlie Ergen becoming the company's chairman and his T-Mobile counterpart, John Legere, serving as the combined company's CEO," The Wall Street Journal reported last night, citing people familiar with the matter. "Tougher questions about a purchase price and the mix of cash and stock that would be used to pay for a deal remain unresolved, the people said. One of the people characterized the talks as at 'the formative stage,' and said an agreement might not ultimately be hammered out."