[Smitty13]

Sources: https://www.dslreports.com/shownews/...TMobile-134038
Dish Network in Merger Talks With T-Mobile - WSJ

While this may be slightly old news for those who follow carrier news closely, I wanted to share this for those not in the loop.

It is reported John Legere would stay as CEO of this merged company and Charlie Ergen would be chairman. No word on anything finalized as this is in the early stages.

If you think are having a flashback, I do not blame you. T-Mobile has been in merger talks before with the likes of AT&T and Sprint in the recent past; the AT&T merger was blocked for anti-trust reasons and Sprint eventually gave up on their own accord after regular opposition.

Thoughts? Comments?

Personally I think this could get very interesting as T-Mobile has notoriously played second (third?) fiddle to AT&T and Verizon in terms of spectrum but Dish has been sitting on a pile of spectrum in the hopes of one day acquiring or partnering with a wireless carrier. This could potentially help increase T-Mobile's wireless footprint rather significantly. The other side of the coin to this, however, perhaps this merger will but the brakes on T-Mobile's "uncarrier" strategy they have been rolling out as of late?

[raino]

Dish is in an interesting position where they own a TON of spectrum (although some of it recently was acquired in...ahem, classic Charlie Ergen fashion) and are a player who could a) easily partner up with another entity to build out their mobile network, or b) buy TMO. They tried to buy Sprint--which would have resulted in a massive amount of spectrum under one entity--but were turned down.

Regulatory hurdles may not be as significant either, as these two aren't really in the same industry (as, say, Sprint/AT&T and TMO were.) In some ways, they are the TMO of their industry--chasing DirecTV (who is trying to merge with AT&T now.)

[Smitty13]

Dish is in an interesting position where they own a TON of spectrum (although some of it recently was acquired in...ahem, classic Charlie Ergen fashion) and are a player who could a) easily partner up with another entity to build out their mobile network, or b) buy TMO. They tried to buy Sprint--which would have resulted in a massive amount of spectrum under one entity--but were turned down.

Regulatory hurdles may not be as significant either, as these two aren't really in the same industry (as, say, Sprint/AT&T and TMO were.) In some ways, they are the TMO of their industry--chasing DirecTV (who is trying to merge with AT&T now.)

Good points, raino. That is what I was thinking initially in regards to industry type. Whereas there was some legitimate concern in regards to AT&T swallowing up a direct competitor and taking the Big 4 down to the Big 3, Dish is not really involved in the wireless carrier game directly, thus, the Big 4 stay intact.

I am not well versed in what spectrum Dish currently holds versus TMO; if this partnership does happen, what kind of overall footprint/improvement to TMO would we be looking at if you know?

A part of me really does wish to see this merger happen just due to the fact there is such a significant amount of spectrum Dish is just sitting on. This could very well be the shot in the arm TMO needs to really make something happen. Then again I worry we will see some of those perks TMO offers go by the wayside (E.g. "Unlimited" plans, paying early termination fees, etc.).

Regulatory issues aside, this might very well come down to Charlie Ergen not putting his usual "magic touch" on this deal as he has done in the past .

[gariac]

DT said they weren't interested in a deal with Dish, but that could be a bluff.

I don't envy John Legere's job since on top of everything else, he has to deal with DT. Seriously, how many years has DT said they want to dump TMobile? You simply can't run a company well with a gun to your head. I think the only reason TMobile pulled off their LTE upgrade with presumably DT's blessing is TMobile would have failed otherwise, or be in a death spiral. As it stands now, TMobile customers are happy with the system where it works, with the caveat that it doesn't work everywhere.



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[Smitty13]

DT said they weren't interested in a deal with Dish, but that could be a bluff.

I don't envy John Legere's job since on top of everything else, he has to deal with DT. Seriously, how many years has DT said they want to dump TMobile? You simply can't run a company well with a gun to your head. I think the only reason TMobile pulled off their LTE upgrade with presumably DT's blessing is TMobile would have failed otherwise, or be in a death spiral. As it stands now, TMobile customers are happy with the system where it works, with the caveat that it doesn't work everywhere.



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Very interesting! I never did see an article where Deutsche Telekom said they weren't interested in a deal with Dish. Do you have a link for me to read up on it? Genuinely asking, not being sarcastic!

I am just surprised as I know Deutsche Telekom has been looking to get out of the US wireless game for quite some time now, and as you noted, were looking to get rid of T-Mobile from their portfolio as soon as possible (Source: https://www.dslreports.com/shownews/...TMobile-133890). I do have to hand it to John Legere, though. He has pulled off some very big moves that have won him a lot of customer support, even with Deutsche Telekom saying they wanted to abandon him.

Outside of Dish's Charlie Ergen, there really is not much on the downside of T-Mobile merging with Dish, especially due to the fact that regulatory powers that be might be a bit more forgiving of this merger due to the two different markets here.

Time will tell I suppose!

[gariac]

Very interesting! I never did see an article where Deutsche Telekom said they weren't interested in a deal with Dish. Do you have a link for me to read up on it? Genuinely asking, not being sarcastic!

I am just surprised as I know Deutsche Telekom has been looking to get out of the US wireless game for quite some time now, and as you noted, were looking to get rid of T-Mobile from their portfolio as soon as possible (Source: https://www.dslreports.com/shownews/...TMobile-133890). I do have to hand it to John Legere, though. He has pulled off some very big moves that have won him a lot of customer support, even with Deutsche Telekom saying they wanted to abandon him.

Outside of Dish's Charlie Ergen, there really is not much on the downside of T-Mobile merging with Dish, especially due to the fact that regulatory powers that be might be a bit more forgiving of this merger due to the two different markets here.

Time will tell I suppose!

Here you go:

http://nypost.com/2015/06/08/t-mobil...etwork-merger/

Lots of stuff in the article that makes little sense. For instance, the preferred plan is a merger with Sprint. Well that has been attempted and wasn't approved, so why mention it again? Then there is talk about a Comcast deal? Please no!




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[Ment]

Dish and Tmob are a much better fit in terms of culture. Both Charlie and Legere have played the underdog role for years and in that vein, are willing to try new tactics. I remember when Ergen used to do his monthly retro-style Charlie Chats and talk directly to subscribers. Who would do that these days, Legere thats who!

[raino]

WSJ: Dish approaching banks to get $15B funding for T-Mobile deal � TmoNews

Iliad was asking for 56% at $15 billion, so I'm guessing DT won't let go of 40% for at least $11 billion.

At that time, TMO's CFO had said that the Iliad offer was "very inadequate."

[o4liberty]

TMO could use an influx of cash to help build out there system.

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