What Will Dish’s Wireless Strategy Be?

Dish Network has agreed to acquire prepaid mobile operations and spectrum from Sprint and T-Mobile. What would a Dish wireless strategy be? Dish’s traditional business of delivering video by satellite has come under pressure as cord-cutting increases, and the company seems to see wireless as the most logical new business area. In 2018, Dish said its initial move into the wireless business is to build a network to support Internet of Things (IoT) applications and that the company eventually would deploy 5G. Although the prepaid business is somewhat of a niche market, the deal to resell service from the merged company could be a big boost for Dish, potentially allowing the company to launch a service akin to the ones from Comcast and Charter that are based, in large part, on reselling Verizon service. But gaining share and profitability in the wireless market will not be easy. Although the DOJ has said it believes the US needs four major carriers to keep offerings competitive for consumers, others might question whether four major carriers can thrive in that environment.