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.

HTC re-evaluates S3 Graphics deal in light of patent defeat

Taiwanese phone manufacturer HTC is said to be re-evaluating whether to proceed with the intended $300 million purchase of S3 Graphics after the company suffered a defeat in its ITC patent dispute against Apple earlier this week.

Investors were concerned initially about the S3 acquisition because HTC's chairperson, Cher Wang, owned a stake in the business. Citigroup also questioned the deal, saying HTC could have just licensed the patents it needed to gain some leverage over Apple. The financial conglomerate later downgraded HTC's stock investment rating and prompted a drop in the company's stock value.

"HTC had decided to acquire S3 Graphics based on the strong belief that evidences of patent infringement from Apple were clear and ITC ruled in its initial determination that Apple had infringed two patents from S3. In light of recent development, HTC will work closely in good faith with VIA Technologies and WTI Investment International to conduct holistic re-evaluation of the S3 Graphics acquisition," they said in a statement, which did little to hide the Taiwanese firm's disappointment.

HTC went on to say they had invested considerable time and effort in preparing for the complicated legal proceedings, which included a "complete legal investigation and comprehensive report on patent and price evaluations." Given that they lost, it is not surprising they wish to re-value the company accordingly.

In a world of ever-increasing patent "wars" it is understandable why they would be interested in the acquisition of S3 Graphics, and thus the additional protection of its patents to boost its intellectual property portfolio and better protect itself against any possible future patent lawsuits. 

Adding to its woes, the phone manufacturer has announced it expects to ship fewer handsets in the fourth quarter, with revised figures now forecasting sales to be the same as its fourth quarter last year. Global economy and market competition were cited as the main reasons for slower than expected sales.

HTC recently hit the news when information and pictures of its upcoming Zeta handset were revealed, with the rumoured specifications said to include a Qualcomm Snapdragon APQ8064 2.5GHz quad-core processor.