Ergen: Mobile Video Driving Sprint Proposal

Dish Network chairman Charlie Ergen said the proliferation of mobile video is one of the biggest drivers of his pursuit of wireless giant Sprint Nextel, adding that his $25.5 billion bid is like the closing two minutes of a Seinfeld episode, when the earlier seemingly disparate 28 minutes finally come together.

It wasn’t the first time Ergen used the Seinfeld analogy – he used it in 2011 when his wireless plans were first taking shape. Back then, analysts and investors were wondering aloud why the satellite giant was spending billions on accumulating wireless spectrum. Back then he said that the investment community would have to wait and see what the final two minutes of this particular Seinfeld episode would be. On April 15, he removed the veil. “This isn’t something that we just thought of yesterday,” Ergen said. “…This is the culmination of a lot of years of work, where we’ve been putting a lot of things in place, whether it be the purchase of spectrum in auctions, the acquisition of Sling Media, all those things come together now with the merger with Sprint, to make a very unique, powerful company.”