A $20 Billion Wireless Stockpile Is the Key to T-Mobile Merger

About $20 billion worth of wireless airwaves are sitting dormant, public goods whose rights were acquired by Dish, in government auctions over the past decade. Put to use, they could create more competition and supply millions more high-speed connections. To finally unleash those airwaves, the government is being asked to place more trust than ever in Dish and its owner, billionaire Charlie Ergen. Dish is on track to get even more airwaves and other assets in 2019, this time as part of a side deal to T-Mobile’s purchase of Sprint. The idea is set up Dish, known for its satellite TV service, as a nationwide wireless carrier, creating a new competitor after the $26.5 billion T-Mobile-Sprint merger subtracts one provider from the US market. 

Any airwaves transfer would need approval from the Federal Communications Commission, which has been pressuring Ergen to use the spectrum he already has. The FCC has said it will move to take away licenses if Dish doesn’t meet requirements to begin offering mobile service on its existing airwaves holdings by 2020.  Those warnings may be overtaken by events. Talks among T-Mobile and Sprint, the Justice Department and Dish are at an advanced stage. The Justice Department could decide to back the deal as soon as the week of July 8. “It would be foolish to have him spend money on a network build that no longer makes sense by the spring of 2020,” said Blair Levin, a Washington-based analyst for New Street Research.