Wireless Telecommunications

Charlie Ergen has long tried to muscle his way into the US wireless business. When his rivals had no other choice, the billionaire behind Dish Network finally got his way. John Legere, the chief executive of T-Mobile US, called Ergen in late May after it became clear T-Mobile’s proposed takeover of Sprint  was in trouble. Ergen had been the most outspoken corporate critic of the proposed $26 billion deal—a merger that would leave the US with three giant cellular companies.

DISH Network will enter the US wireless market as the fourth nationwide facilities-based network competitor. DISH has reached agreements with the Antitrust Division of the US Department of Justice, T-Mobile US, and Sprint to complete this transformative transaction. Additionally, DISH has committed to the Federal Communications Commission that DISH will deploy a facilities-based 5G broadband network capable of serving 70 percent of the U.S. population by June 2023, and has requested that its spectrum licenses be modified to reflect those commitments. DISH will:

“Competition is critical to a strong economy—among the four largest cell phone carriers, that competition has led to lower prices, better service, and more innovation. That’s why, when this merger was first reported, I raised serious antitrust concerns about combining two of the four remaining nationwide wireless carriers, and I have since urged the Justice Department to reject the deal as anticompetitive," said Sen Amy Klobuchar (D-MN).

The Department of Justice announced that it and the Attorneys General for five states reached a settlement with T-Mobile and Sprint regarding their proposed merger. The settlement requires a substantial divestiture package in order to enable a viable facilities-based competitor to enter the market. Further, the settlement will facilitate the expeditious deployment of multiple high-quality 5G networks for the benefit of American consumers and entrepreneurs.

Apparently, the Justice Department is pushing state officials to support a planned settlement that would allow T-Mobile US and Sprint to merge by selling assets to Dish Network. The discussions come in response to some of the state attorneys general who have already filed a federal antitrust suit seeking to block the more than $26 billion merger. The talks include attorneys general from states that refrained from joining the lawsuit. A spokesman for New York’s attorney general said the Justice Department hadn’t contacted his office nor shared any details of a potential merger settlement.

Apple and Intel have signed an agreement for Apple to acquire the majority of Intel’s smartphone modem business. Approximately 2,200 Intel employees will join Apple, along with intellectual property, equipment and leases. The transaction, valued at $1 billion, is expected to close in the fourth quarter of 2019, subject to regulatory approvals and other customary conditions, including works council and other relevant consultations in certain jurisdictions.

Dish has been a potential wireless entrant for some time, having scooped up a significant amount of spectrum in recent years — spectrum it is under pressure to use soon or risk losing. And, back in 2013, Dish lost out in a bidding war with SoftBank for control of Sprint.

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.

Apparently, the Department of Justice is poised to approve T-Mobile’s merger with Sprint under a divestiture plan that would equip satellite-TV operator Dish Network with the building blocks for a new wireless network. The companies have spent weeks negotiating with antitrust enforcers and each other over the sale of assets to Dish to satisfy concerns that the more than $26 billion merger of the No. 3 and No. 4 wireless carriers by subscribers would hurt competition.

Millions of first-time internet consumers from the Ivory Coast to India and Indonesia are connecting to the web on a new breed of device that only costs about $25. The gadgets look like the inexpensive Nokia phones that were big about two decades ago.