Dish Network interested in T-Mobile deal if AT&T acquisition fails

Dish Network may be the next in line to strike a deal with T-Mobile should the acquisition by AT&T fail. Dish CEO Joe Clayton said in an interview with Reuters that the company is serious about getting into the wireless space but that a few conditions must first be met.


Before anything could happen, the FCC must first issue Dish a wireless license. At that point, it would be a waiting game to see what happens between AT&T and T-Mobile. The judge overseeing that case has granted a request by both parties to postpone the proceedings until January 18, giving AT&T more time to evaluate all options.


According to reports, Dish has spent over $3 billion on wireless spectrum and assets in the last year in preparation to diversity their business beyond pay television. Dish lost nearly 250,000 subscribers in the past two quarters, citing a weak economy as the primary reason.


AT&T withdrew their merger application with T-Mobile in late November just days after the FCC hinted it would not back the planned acquisition. AT&T subsequently recorded a $4 billion charge against earnings this quarter to cover the $3 billion in cash and $1 billion in spectrum licenses it agreed to turn over to Deutsche Telekom if the deal faltered. The company still insists that the deal isn’t dead and they are exploring all options.  


Regardless of the outcome, Dish would either need to find a partner or acquire a wireless company to move forward. A deal with other carriers including Clearwire, Sprint, LightSquared, MetroPCS or Leap wasn’t ruled out.

Dish Network to unveil streaming video service Friday

Dish Network has invited media to an event called “A Stream Come True” in San Francisco on Friday where the company is expected to announce pricing and other details for a streaming video service. The new service will use technology acquired from their recent purchase of Blockbuster earlier this year.

Dish purchased the former video rental king for $228 million in cash (after adjustments) at a bankruptcy auction in April 2011. Blockbuster was once the world's largest video chain with a market cap of more than $5 billion at its peak in 2002. It started to fall apart after pressure from mail-order and digital competitors such as Netflix.

A Dish streaming service couldn’t come at a better time as competitor Netflix recently announced that they were moving forward with plans to split their business in two, by offering streaming services only at Netflix.com and renaming their DVD-by-mail service to Qwikster.

Netflix caught a lot of flak from unhappy customers a few months ago when the split was first announced. A 60% price hike accompanied the announcement for subscribers of both services, which resulted in nearly 1 million cancellations. Netflix CEO Reed Hastings acknowledged the communication mistake and publically apologized over the weekend.

Earlier this month it was reported that Netflix had lost their contract with Starz and content would be pulled from the streaming platform on February 28, 2012.

Dish could come out smelling like a rose if they are able to undercut the current Netflix streaming price of $7.99. The only concern is that the company has only had five months to amass a streaming catalog, although Dish promises to unveil “the most comprehensive home entertainment package ever.”